Dubai-based jeweller arrested for routing ₹79 crore to Zakir Naik’s firm

In the remand application made before the special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court, the ED said Sathak was also a director of the Dubai-based Global Broadcasting Corporation (GBC), which owned Peace TV, a channel run by Naik.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday arrested Dubai-based jeweller Abdul Kadir Najmudin Sathak for assisting Islamist preacher Zakir Naik raise and divert funds from “dubious” sources in the Middle East, including ₹79 crore for the production of videos for Naik’s channel, Peace TV. The agency is expected to file a charge sheet soon. Sathak was remanded in ED custody till March 27.

The ED arrested Dubai-based jeweller Abdul Kadir Najmudin Sathak for assisting Islamist preacher Zakir Naik raise and divert funds from “dubious” sources in the Middle East.(HT File)

In the remand application made before the special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court, the ED said Sathak was also a director of the Dubai-based Global Broadcasting Corporation (GBC), which owned Peace TV, a channel run by Naik.

GBC routed ₹79 crore to Harmony Media Pvt Ltd in Mumbai, which made the content for Peace TV. Two of Harmony Media’s directors are Naik’s aid Amir Gazdar, who was arrested in February 2017, and Naik’s sister, Mailah Noorani. “The source of funds remitted by GBC to Harmony is suspicious as there was no advertisement run of this channel and Sathak has not submitted any details of the same,” said the ED.

Sathak has claimed GBC made its money from donations received from corporations owned by the crown prince and other members of the royal family of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). “It, therefore, appears that the UAE and other emirates funded the Peace TV and the content production for the Peace TV channel for reasons beyond pious religious activity,” stated the ED.

Sathak has been in India since December 2017 , when to go to Chennai from Dubai, he travelled via Kathmandu, Gorakhpur and Varanasi. “This amply shows that he was only trying to hoodwink the investigating authorities in India in order to avoid being detected/detained,” stated ED in the remand report. Sathak’s lawyer said that Sathak’s travel itinerary was irrelevant to the case and that he had approached the Madras high court to cancel the look-out circular issued by the ED against Sathak. The ED had also seized his passport.

Between 2004 and 2017, Naik, who is currently believed to be in Malaysia, raised donations of approximately ₹65 crore from the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and India. He raised another ₹49 crore from “dubious” sources in Dubai and used the money to book at least 20 flats in Mumbai and Pune, often in the name of his wife, son, mother, father and sister. The agency has already attached assets worth ₹51 crore.