ED arrests Al Falah University founder Jawad Ahmed Siddiqui in PMLA case amid Red Fort blast probe

NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday arrested Jawad Ahmed Siddiqui, Chairman of the Al Falah Group, after a day-long raid at the premises of the trust. The Al-Falah University based in Haryana has come under the scanner after three doctors working there were accused in the Red Fort blast , that killed 12 people. They were allegedly part of what the investigative agencies have described as the white-collar terror module. According to ED, Jawad Ahmed has been arrested in a different case, under Section 19 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, in connection with alleged financial irregularities at the Al-Falah University. He has been produced before the court for the purpose of seeking ED custody. Sources said entities tied to the Al-Falah Trust were also being examined for suspected fund diversion and layering. Siddiqui was arrested hours after multiple teams of the agency conducted searches at 25 locations across Delhi and Faridabad linked to the Al-Falah Group in connection with alleged fraudulent accreditation claims and financial irregularities by the groups flagship institutions. Officials said he was arrested after a detailed investigation and analysis of evidence gathered during search operations at premises related to the Al-Falah Group. Siddiqui has been the managing trustee of the Al-Falah Charitable Trust since 1995, exercising complete control over the trust and its network of educational institutions. Exhaustive evidence, including cash recovered from trustees, diversion of funds to family concerns, layering of funds, etc., clearly establishes the pattern of generation and layering of proceeds of crime. After establishing his culpability, he was arrested following due legal procedure, an official said. The Al-Falah Charitable Trust, the official added, was constituted through a public charitable trust deed dated September 8, 1995, with Jawad Ahmad Siddiqui named as one of the first trustees and designated as the managing trustee. All the educational institutions (university and colleges) are ultimately owned and financially consolidated under this trust, which is effectively controlled by Jawad Ahmad Siddiqui. The entire Al-Falah Group has seen a meteoric rise since the 1990s, metamorphosing into a large educational body. However, the rise is not backed by adequate financials, he said. Last week, the government asked the ED to review the financial trail of the institution following a high-level meeting chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Madhya Pradesh police arrests Al-Falah University founder's brother in 25-year-old investment fraud case In a coordinated enforcement operation at 5:15 a.m. today, officials executed search actions at 25 premises of the Al-Falah Group in connection with the ongoing investigation into financial irregularities, use of shell companies, accommodation entities and money laundering, an ED official said. The role of the Al-Falah Trust and related entities is under investigation. Key personnel overseeing finance and administration have also been covered, he said. According to officials, nine shell companies linked to the Al-Falah Group, all registered at a single address, are under examination. Early findings point to multiple risk indicators consistent with shell-company behaviour, including no physical presence or meaningful utility consumption at declared places of business, common mobile numbers and email addresses across various companies and accounts, the official said. Other indicators include the absence of EPFO/ESIC filings inconsistent with the reported scale of operations, overlapping directors/signatories and weak KYC trails across entities, minimal salary disbursal through banking channels, absence of HR records, synchronised incorporation patterns and common contact coordinates across firms, he added. Delhi Police has also registered two FIRs on a complaint from the University Grants Commission (UGC). One FIR alleges cheating, while the second invokes charges of forgery. The Association of Indian Universities (AIU) has revoked Al-Falah Universitys membership amid accusations of its linkage with the error module. Earlier, the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) issued a show-cause notice seeking the university's response on alleged irregularities. According to the notice, the university had claimed on its now-inaccessible website that its Al-Falah School of Engineering and Technology and Al-Falah School of Education and Training had been awarded A grades by the NAAC. However, the engineering school and the education-and-training school were accredited in 2013 and 2011, respectively, for five years each, and the validity of those accreditations expired long ago. The university did not seek fresh accreditation after the expiry, making its continued claim about the A grades misleading, the notice said. Delhi court remands Jasir Bilal Wani, accused in Red Fort blast, to 10-day NIA custody