iNDICA NEWS BUREAU-
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) categorically refuted the Enforcement Directorate’s allegation that the party misappropriated funds raised during a 2016 fundraising event in Canada for personal gain. AAP termed these charges are entirely baseless and false on Monday, May 20.
AAP) also asserted that it has already submitted its response to the Ministry of Home Affairs, Election Commission, Enforcement Directorate (ED), and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) regarding what it considers an ‘old case’.
According to AAP Rajya Sabha lawmaker Sandeep Pathak, there is no truth to the allegations.
“Even in 2015, such allegations were denied. Now, after so many days and in view of the ongoing elections, such allegations are being leveled again,” Pathak claimed.
He noted that with the ongoing Lok Sabha elections scheduled for May 25 in Delhi and June 1 in Punjab, both AAP-ruled states, the BJP will continue to raise such issues.
“Earlier, Arvind Kejriwal was sent to jail on false charges. The issue of Swati Maliwal was also raised, but seeing that the people of Delhi and Punjab are dismissing such allegations, they are now coming up with new ones,” Pathak claimed.
Last week, Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal, a senior member of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), accused Arvind Kejriwal’s close associate, Bibhav Kumar, of physically assaulting her at the Delhi Chief Minister’s residence. The accusation led to Kumar’s subsequent arrest.
To recall, the ED has submitted a report to the Ministry of Home Affairs claiming to have uncovered a ₹7.08 crore foreign donation scandal involving the AAP. The report alleges that AAP violated the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) and election guidelines by manipulating the donors’ identities.
Sources said this amount was raised in violation of the provisions of the FCRA, 2010, and the Representation of the People Act, 1951, by concealing, mis-declaring, and manipulating the identities and nationalities of foreign donors, along with several other facts related to the foreign donations.
According to sources, the ED found several instances of irregularities in the collection of foreign funds by the AAP and its leaders during its investigation. The ED accused some individuals, including AAP Delhi MLA Durgesh Pathak, of siphoning off funds collected during a fundraising event in Canada in 2016 for personal benefit.
The ED has substantiated the allegations through the contents of emails exchanged between various AAP volunteers and functionaries, including Aniket Saxena (Coordinator of AAP Overseas India), Kumar Vishwas (then Convenor of AAP Overseas India), Kapil Bhardwaj (AAP member), and Pathak.
The ED investigation so far has revealed that funds were collected through fundraising campaigns in the US and Canada, and the identities of the actual donors were concealed to circumvent the restrictions imposed under the FCRA on donations by foreign citizens to a political party. Additionally, an analysis of the data on foreign donations revealed that multiple donors used the same passport numbers, email IDs, mobile numbers, and credit card details for donations.
