NewsClick row: ED issues fresh summons to US millionaire Neville Roy Singham
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New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has issued fresh summons to Shanghai-based millionaire Neville Roy Singham for questioning in connection with a money laundering investigation linked to the news portal NewsClick.
Singham, a US citizen currently located in Shanghai, is accused of spreading Chinese propaganda in India. He was issued a fresh summons under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
This is a new notice issued to him after the agency got issued Letters Rogatory (LR) from a local court seeking to record his statement, the sources said.
Earlier last year, the Chinese authorities had reportedly refused to serve summons to Singham.
The summons have been emailed to Singham and sent through the Chinese government channels after the ED had routed them through the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
The ED is probing how Singham's media company was promoting Chinese propaganda in India.
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Notably, the Delhi Police had arrested NewsClick founder Prabir Purkayastha and the company's HR Head Amit Chakravarty last month on charges of alleged anti-India activities.
As part of its inquiry, the ED had attached a flat in New Delhi's Saket linked to Prabir Purkayashta, editor-in-chief of NewsClick, in connection with its money laundering probe against the news portal.
The property worth Rs 4.52 crore attached under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) was allegedly part of the proceeds of crime.
ED is probing "fraudulent" foreign funds infusion of over Rs 86 crore into the company that runs the portal.
The probe agency had raided Purkayastha's premises in September 2021.
As per ED officials, the company claimed "receiving export remittance" of Rs 76.84 crore, Rs 1.61 crore, Rs 26.98 lakh, and Rs 2.03 lakh from Justice and Education Fund Inc USA, The Tricontinental Ltd Inc USA, GSPAN LLC USA and Centro Popular De Midas, Brazil, from March 2018 until the 2021 raids.
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Officials said the agency has not found any evidence of exporting of services to these entities. ED is also probing at the foreign direct investment (FDI) transfer of Rs 9.59 crore in April 2018 by way of subscription of shares of PPK NEWSCLICK Studio Pvt Ltd from a company named Worldwide Media Holdings LLC, USA (a Delaware Limited Liability Company).
They said the company shut the shop soon after this transfer of funds. ED suspects the funds routed through Justice and Education Fund Inc USA belonged to Singham.
The probe agency has alleged Singham is a "close confidant" of Purkayastha and a "Chinese emphasizer". Purkayastha and Chakravarty are currently in judicial custody.
Roy's name was in the headlines again a few months back in a New York Times article.
The Delhi Police, following this news piece and some "evidence" shared by ED, had also filed an FIR against him and the founders of NewsClick after this news report came to light.
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Roy had said in a statement issued to The Hindu last month that the language used in the FIR filed by the Special Cell of Delhi Police "strongly suggests" that the claims were "influenced by misinformation from an article published by The New York Times."
He also rejected the allegation of fraudulent infusion of funds through a "complex web of several entities" as mentioned in the FIR and in the New York Times article.
The article claimed that NewsClick was part of a global network that received funding from Roy, who allegedly works closely with the Chinese government media machine.
NewsClick had said the allegations being made against it "by certain political actors and sections of the media are unfounded and without basis in fact or law".
