ED gets 13 day custody of Al Falah chief over alleged ₹415 crore fraud

ED says expired NAAC grades and false 12B claims drew admissions, helping the trust collect over ₹415 crore between FY19 and FY25.

A Delhi court on Wednesday sent Jawad Ahmed Siddiqui, chairman of Faridabad-based Al-Falah University, to 13 days of Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody, observing that the money-laundering investigation against him was at a “nascent stage” and that the allegations carried “significant gravity.”

Archived website pages showed repeated statutory claims that regulators say never existed, forming part of a pattern of deception. (PTI)

In its remand note placed before the court on Wednesday, ED has alleged that Siddiqui generated more than ₹415 crore through sustained misrepresentation of the institution’s accreditation and statutory status, layering the funds through family-linked entities and exercising complete control over financial decisions across the group.

Ed said its probe under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) stemmed from two predicate FIRs registered by the Delhi Police Crime Branch on November 13. The first FIR accuses Al-Falah University of projecting expired NAAC accreditations as valid, despite not applying for renewal. The second alleges that the institution fabricated claims of recognition under Section 12(B) of the UGC Act – even though it was approved only under Section 2(f) and was never entitled to receive government grants under the cited provision.

ED said these misrepresentations were not isolated lapses but a sustained practice used to attract admissions and mislead students and parents. Archived snapshots of the university’s website – showing repeated assertions of accreditation and statutory recognition that did not exist – were cited as evidence of “systematic deception.” The agency alleged that on the strength of these claims, the university and its parent charitable trust collected ₹415.1 crore in educational receipts between FY 2018-19 and FY 2024-25.

Senior ED officials said the bank accounts of the university, its colleges and the trust were all operated under a single PAN, and income-tax returns were filed in the trust’s name. This unified structure, they alleged, enabled Siddiqui to exercise complete financial control and obscure the fund trail. “Since these revenues were earned by misleading students and parents, they constitute proceeds of crime,” an officer said.

The agency claimed that more than ₹400 crore in student fees and other receipts were diverted for “personal and private interests” rather than academic purposes. Transfers to family-linked entities – such as Amla Enterprises LLP, which allegedly received hostel and mess fees, and Karkun Construction and Developers, which handled construction payments – were presented as part of the laundering chain used to layer illicit funds. Statements from employees, including the chief financial officer, allegedly confirmed that all major financial and legal decisions were taken by Siddiqui, whom ED described as the “controlling mind” of the group.

Siddiqui was produced before Saket court’s additional sessions judge Sheetal Chaudhary Pradhan at her residence around 1am, hours after his arrest at 8.10pm on Tuesday. ED was represented by special public prosecutor Simon Benjamin and advocate Tuhina Mishra.

In court, ED argued that the fund trail across multiple accounts remains untraced, that investigators have yet to identify benami deposits, undisclosed properties or off-book assets, and that income-tax returns and related records are still being examined. Siddiqui, they said, “remains in control” of assets and departments and could destroy evidence or influence staff. They also flagged the risk of flight, pointing to family members settled in the Gulf and “substantial financial resources” at his disposal.

Siddiqui’s counsel countered that the allegations were fabricated and that the FIRs themselves were baseless. The court, however, agreed that the investigation was at a crucial stage and granted ED custody till December 1.