Anurag Kumar
The special cell of the Delhi Police has discovered evidence that the website NewsClick received 28.29 crore between 2018 and 2021 from four entities linked to Neville Roy Singham, an American millionaire accused of spreading Chinese propaganda, and a consulting firm he sold in 2017, according to investigators with knowledge of the case.
A senior Delhi Police officer stated that 27.51 crore was received from the Justice and Education Fund, 26.98 lakh was received from GSPAN LLC, 49.31 lakh was received from Tricontinental Limited Inc, and 2.03 crore was received from the Centro Popular De Midas.
“During our investigation, we discovered that PPK Studio NewsClick Private Limited, the parent company of NewsClick, transferred 20.53 lakhs to one of the accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, Gautam Navlakha,” the officer said, requesting anonymity.
The revelations came two days after the arrests of NewsClick founder Prabir Purkayastha and human resources chief Amit Chakravarty in connection with an Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act case registered by the Delhi Police special cell in five cities.
A New York Times investigation published on August 5 alleged that the website was part of a global network that received funding to spread Chinese propaganda. The American newspaper claimed that Singham, a multimillionaire, funded NewsClick and other media outlets worldwide to supplement their coverage with Chinese government talking points.
HT attempted to contact NewsClick via telephone but did not receive an immediate response.
The above-mentioned Delhi Police officer also stated that Purkayastha incorporated PPK Studio NewsClick Private Limited on January 11, 2018. “Three months later, in April 2018, the defunct Worldwide Media Holdings LLC, Delaware – now part of the Neville Singham network – invested 9.59 crore in the newly incorporated PPK Newsclick. The foreign investors also managed to fraudulently jack up the premium of a share of ₹10 to ₹11,510,” he said.
During the investigation, 52.09 lakhs were paid to an unidentified Communist Party of India (Marxist) member, according to a second investigator from the Enforcement Directorate, the federal agency that initially filed a money laundering case against the website in 2021.
“In 2021, the ED conducted a search of NewsClick’s premises in order to collect additional evidence and aid in the investigation of money laundering allegations against the company. We could uncover a trace of 38 crore worth of foreign remittances…We obtained adequate evidence that a substantial sum of money was also paid to several journalists on the company’s payroll. During our investigations, we discovered numerous email exchanges between Singham and the NewsClick director and stakeholder. “These e-mails revealed that NewsClick was paid to spruce up Chinese propaganda, particularly its role in Africa, and to defend China’s crackdown on Jack Ma,” an ED investigator who requested anonymity said.
The residence of CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury in the nation’s capital was also raided on Tuesday, as the son of one of his associates, who resides in the same home, is employed by NewsClick. The police seized a laptop, a phone, and two hard disks from the residence. “Police were dispatched to my domicile because the son of one of my housemates works for NewsClick. The police arrived to interrogate him. They stole his laptop and mobile phone. What are they looking into? Nobody is aware. If this is an endeavor to silence the media, the country must know why,” Yechury had previously stated.
According to the ED officer cited previously, investigators discovered that Singham founded four U.S. nonprofit organizations. “Thereafter, he utilized the regulatory flexibility provided by the US nonprofit sector to fund media outlets in a number of countries,” he added.
Eight hours were spent interrogating 46 individuals, including journalists, freelancers, writers, and satirists, across 30 locations in Delhi, Noida, Gurugram, Mumbai, and Ghaziabad on Tuesday by at least 400 police officers.
On August 17, the special cell of the Delhi Police filed a case under Sections 153A (promoting enmity) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 16 (terrorist act),17 (raising funds for terrorist act), 18 (conspiracy), and 22C (offenses by companies, societies, or trusts) of UAPA (United Arab Emirates Anti-Terrorism Act). ED conducted searches at NewsClick and Purkayastha in 2021.
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The website denies all allegations. “All funding received by Newsclick has been reported to the relevant authorities in accordance with the law, as confirmed by the Reserve Bank of India in proceedings before the high court of Delhi,” the organization said in a statement.
