Al Falah University founder faces fresh Rs 2 crore fraud charge in Bhopal amid ED probe

Al Falah University founder Jawad Ahmed Siddiqui has come under intensified legal scrutiny, facing multiple cases spanning decades. A day after being sent to 13-day Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody in a terror-financing–linked money laundering probe, Siddiqui has now been booked in a separate Rs 2 crore fraud case in Bhopal.

Siddiqui drew the ED’s attention after alleged links to the Delhi Red Fort blast surfaced, with the agency claiming he and his Al Falah charitable trust amassed around Rs 415.10 crore through fake NAAC accreditation and false claims of UGC recognition, misleading students and parents.

Officials noted that Siddiqui had been absconding from Bhopal Police for years in an older fraud case. Between 1997 and 2001, he and his brother Hamood Siddiqui allegedly ran a chit fund in Bhopal promising to double investors’ money. FIRs were later filed at Talaiya and Shahjahanabad police stations. Siddiqui is also accused of misappropriating funds belonging to gas victims. While Jawad secured anticipatory bail in the 24-year-old fraud case, Hamood was acquitted.

The ED has argued that Siddiqui had command over admissions, accounts, fee records, and IT systems, giving him the ability to destroy or alter records during the ongoing investigation. The agency pointed to two FIRs by the Delhi Police Crime Branch alleging that Al Falah University used fake accreditation to boost admissions.

Since the 1990s, the Al Falah group has expanded into a major educational network, though its financial disclosures reportedly do not align with its accumulated wealth. Siddiqui will remain in ED custody until 1 December as the probe into alleged large-scale financial irregularities and accreditation fraud continues.

Meanwhile, the Mhow Cantonment Board has issued a notice to the current occupant of Siddiqui’s ancestral home, directing the removal of extensive unauthorised construction on the property.

This case underscores a web of longstanding financial irregularities and alleged links to terror financing, with authorities continuing their multifaceted investigation into Siddiqui and the Al Falah network.

With IANS inputs