American millionaire Neville Roy Singham has been summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for questioning in connection with a money laundering probe related to the NewsClick case. According to sources, the central agency has sent the summons through the Ministry of External Affairs to Mr. Singham, who is based in Shanghai. The summons has also been e-mailed to him, as reported by news agency PTI.
The process of summoning Mr. Singham began after a Delhi court issued a Letter Rogatory, which is a formal request to Chinese courts for assistance. Chinese authorities had previously refused to serve a more direct summons last year.
NewsClick is currently under investigation, under the anti-terror law UAPA, for alleged links to China-linked entities that provided funding for broadcasting Chinese propaganda in India. Mr. Singham was named in a report by The New York Times that alleged his involvement in the global spread of such material. However, Mr. Singham, who has been named as an accused in the related probe by the ED, has denied these charges.
The ED initiated its probe based on a complaint filed by the Delhi Police. In October, the homes and offices of several journalists, including founder Prabir Purkayastha, were raided, and Mr. Purkayastha and others were arrested shortly after. The ED is now expected to seek custody of Mr. Purkayastha, who is currently in Delhi’s Tihar Jail.
Last week, the court postponed the hearing until after the festive break. The FIR alleges that NewsClick received Rs 9.59 crore in funding from Worldwide Media Holdings LLC, a registered company in the United States, in violation of FDI laws. The document also claims that these funds were fraudulently infused by Neville Roy Singham, an American millionaire believed to have close ties to the Chinese government’s media machine.
NewsClick has denied all charges and has pointed out that, despite being raided since 2021, no money laundering complaint has been filed against them. The website stated that raids have been conducted by the Enforcement Directorate, Delhi Police’s Economic Offences Wing, and the Income Tax Department.
With input from agencies, NDTV is closely following this case.
