CBI arrests 6 govt officials over ‘illegal foreign funding’ of NGOs

The case also names six officials of Foreign Contribution Regulation Act division of the ministry of home affairs, one National Informatics Centre official, two hawala operators, and several middlemen

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has named representatives of at least 12 non-government organisations (NGOs) and institutions, including Omidyar Network that is supported by billionaire philanthropist and e-Bay founder Pierre Omidyar over an alleged case of bribe-for-approval. The case also names six officials of Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) division of the ministry of home affairs (MHA), one National Informatics Centre (NIC) official, two hawala operators, and several middlemen.

In all, CBI has named 36 individuals and entities along with “unknown persons” for being part of what it said was a well-oiled network to provide FCRA clearances illegally (ANI)

The action came after the central agency raided 40 locations on Tuesday in Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Assam and Manipur after receiving a communication from Union home secretary Ajay Bhalla.

The home secretary reported suspicion of at least three FCRA clearance networks that were purportedly operating in connivance with government servants.

Following Tuesday’s raids, 14 people, including six government servants, were arrested and ₹3.21 crore in cash was retrieved.

The government staffers were identified as current FCRA division personnel Tushar Kanti Roy, Raj Kumar and Saheed Khan and former officials in the division, Parmod Kumar Bhasin, Alok Ranjan and Ghazanfar Ali. An NIC official – Uma Shankar, who allegedly assisted the accused persons, is also named in the CBI first information report (FIR) but was yet to be arrested, the agency said.

In all, the agency has named 36 individuals and entities along with “unknown persons” for being part of what it said was a well-oiled network to provide FCRA clearances illegally.

The FIR, reviewed by HT, said: “the promoters and representatives of various NGOs, some middlemen, and some public servants impersonating themselves as posted in FCRA division were collecting bribes from NGOs for facilitating registration, renewal and prior-permission for foreign funding licences.”

“The NGOs were getting FCRA clearances through ‘backdoor’ so that they could continue receiving funds from foreign donors despite not fulfilling the prescribed norms. They also generated fake invoices to justify their expenditure for the defined cause,” the agency added.

Omidyar Network India did not respond to an email requesting comment.

Omidyar Network India, involved in social impact funding across sectors, was put under ‘prior reference category’ last year, restricting funding by it to Indian NGOs/individuals without the approval of the home ministry.

According to the FIR, one Devesh Chandra Mishra from Hauz Khas contacted Roy for clearing permission to receive foreign remittance worth ₹3 crore as donation for Omidyar. Roy assured Mishra that permission would be arranged but demanded 10% of the remittance as bribe. Mishra told him 10% was too high, and that promoters of Omidyar were ready to pay ₹5 lakh, the FIR alleges.

Allegedly, the FIR adds, Roy cited payoffs that need to be made to other officials to press for 7% instead. It was not clear whether the bribe was paid.

A second NGO named in the case was Harvest India, a non-profit from Andhra Pradesh whose FCRA licence was suspended last year. It, the CBI FIR alleges, approached FCRA official Alok Ranjan through a middleman from Rohini, identified as Ravi Shankar Ambastha, and offered to pay ₹8 lakh to get the suspension revoked and the licence renewed. Harvest India did not respond to an email query.

CBI has claimed that Ambastha and Ranjan are running consultancy firms in the names of Immaculate Global Consultants (IGC) and Asra Foundation.

Ambastha, according to the FIR, lobbied for several other NGOs including Andhra Pradesh-based AMG India International, against whom complaints were received last year for alleged religious conversion.

Other NGOs and institutions named in CBI case, whose representatives were allegedly lobbying for illegal FCRA clearances, include Coimbatore-based Ganga Orthopedic Research and Education Foundation (GOREF), The Social Project (Vellore), Ranchi-based Srijan Foundation, Centre for Rural Tribal and Rural Development Trust (Tamil Nadu), Ayries Multipurpose Social Service Society (Tamil Nadu) and Jahangirabad Educational Trust (Jamia Nagar, Delhi).