The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has issued fresh summons to American millionaire Neville Roy Singham as part of an ongoing money laundering investigation connected to the online news portal NewsClick. Singham, currently residing in Shanghai, China, is accused of spreading Chinese propaganda in India, as reported by PTI.
Under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), this latest notice follows Letters Rogatory (LR) obtained by the ED from a local court to record Singham's statement. The summons have been dispatched via email and Chinese government channels through the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), marking the second such summons after the initial one issued last year when the investigation commenced in 2021.
Singham's name resurfaced in recent months in a New York Times article. Subsequently, the Delhi Police filed an FIR against him and NewsClick's founders based on evidence provided by the ED. Singham, in response to these developments, criticized the language used in the FIR, suggesting it was influenced by misinformation from The New York Times. He accused the newspaper of selectively omitting factual rebuttals provided to them earlier.
The New York Times report implicated NewsClick in a global network allegedly funded by Singham, who purportedly has close ties to the Chinese government's media apparatus. The ED had initially raided NewsClick's premises in September 2021 on money laundering charges and has since recorded statements from over 25 individuals, including NewsClick's founder and Editor-in-chief, Prabir Purkayastha.
In the course of the investigation, the ED attached a flat in Saket, Delhi, valued at Rs 4.52 crore, linked to Purkayastha, along with fixed deposits worth Rs 41 lakh. NewsClick has consistently refuted the allegations, stating they are baseless and lacking factual or legal foundation.
