Pakistan linked NGOs 'mopped up' funds in India's name during COVID-19 crisis: Report

As India is witnessing a second wave of COVID-19 pandemic, help came from all around the world. However, some organisations used the crisis time to collect funds in the name of charity. The United States-based Pakistan-linked charity organisations started collecting funds in name of helping India in the COVID-19 Crisis. The organisations after collecting millions of dollars sent a small amount in the name of help to India, according to the DisInfo Lab report.

In an elaborate report, DisInfo Lab uncovered the 'Covid-19 Scam 2021', which it says is "one of the worst scams in human history" in terms of the humanitarian cost as millions of dollars were stolen in the name of 'Helping India Breath'.

DisInfo Lab exposes COVID-19 Scam 2021

The DisInfo Lab exposed several charity organisations, which managed to raise funds by exploiting India's hard-earned goodwill. 

One such organisation which claimed to have worked for India is the Islamic Medical Association of North America (IMANA). The current chairman of IMANA is Dr Ismail Mehr, who has been leading the “Help India Breathe” project is a Pakistan-origin doctor and currently resides in the US, according to the report. 

IMANA started the #HelpIndiaBreathe campaign on Instagram on April 27, 2021, and set an initial target of 1.8 crores. As the money started coming, IMANA kept revising targets for fund collection. IMANA managed to raise a fund of INR 8.7 Crore of a target of INR 5.62 Crore. While the Instagram campaign was on, they started another campaign on the crowdfunding platform “Just Giving”, where it managed to raise US$298,919 (approx. 2 crores INR). IMANA also provided other donation options such as direct donations on the website, etc.

According to the report, IMANA chairman on May 7 claimed that after reaching $100K on the second day, it started receiving donations at a speed of $100K per hour. As per the report, taking that into account, the total amount as per calculations could be anywhere between US$ 4.12 million to US$21 million (Rs. 30 crores- 158 crores).

Disinfo Lab said, "Given that IMANA has almost zero transparency about the fund it collected, there is no way to ascertain actual amount it might have received."

They also claimed to have tied up with Air India for free shipment for Chicago - Delhi route and the material was 'ready to be shipped, but no update was provided on the arrival and distribution in India, as per the report. IMANA claimed that they had tied up with DRDO and the Ministry of Agriculture for coordinating their help in India. None of these claims could be verified from the open-source, mentioned in the report.

IMANA provides ‘help’ to Pakistan through Al-Mustafa Welfare Trust (AMT), the report said citing IMANA Care 2020 Annual Report. The AMT is part of Pakistan’s Milbus ‘military capital’, which is used for the personal benefit of the Pak Army, according to the report. 

These organisations have close ties with radical Islamist and terrorist organisations and are in collusion with the Pakistani military, said the report. Several organisations with questionable records and without the approval of the FCRA conducted campaigns and raised funds. There were about 23 such organisations and they managed to raise more than USD 1.2 million with small fundraising activities, it added. 

"It is worth mentioning that FATF has already raised this concern that lot of funding in the name of Covid is likely to go towards terror funding. Given the scale of network of one set of organizations, the scale of total terror funding could only be imagined," the report read.

The DisInfo lab suggested that the governments - from the USA to India - should take note of the terror-funding money-making machinery and provide some mechanism to ensure transparency from these groups.

(With ANI inputs)

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