Zakir Naik charged with money laundering
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday filed its first charge sheet against preacher Zakir Naik and others, accusing him of money laundering. It identified assets worth ₹193 crore (RM115 million) and allegedly bought illegal real estate assets across the world.
The chargesheet has been filed in the Mumbai special court under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The attached properties include investments in mutual funds, the Islamic International School building in Chennai, 10 flats, three godowns, two buildings, and land in Pune and Mumbai, besides 10 bank accounts, said the agency.
The ED has also identified properties linked to Naik in Dubai and London. Its probe is based on an FIR lodged by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for his alleged role in unlawful activities by the use of provocative utterances and for promoting enmity between different religious groups in India.
The agency said most of the Zakir Naik’s speeches, from 2007 and 2011, were planned, organised, funded and promoted by the Mumbai-based Islamic Research Foundation (IRF).
However, Putrajaya has said it does not find anything wrong with Dr Zakir’s speech, and the fiery preacher may stay in Malaysia as long as he does not break any laws.
