Zakir Naik terms ED’s charges a Lie.

By Abhay Harish Shah , Realty Quarter

A few days back preacher Zakir Naik was blamed against Money Laundering for which he termed as a lie, the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED’s) claim that he transferred over Rs 49crores to his bank accounts in India over a period of 6 years, despite not having any known source of income.

On May 2nd the agency filed a prosecution complaint before a special court in Mumbai against Naik. The complaint state with money laundering and creating illegal real estate assets. The ED said that without having any known source of income Naik managed to transfer more than Rs 49crores to the Indian Bank Accounts. A detailed statement released to the media by his PR team in which Naik said, “Why is the ED lying? When everyone including all the government agencies knows that I have multiple businesses and revenue streams and my earnings have always reflected in the tax returns I’ve filed, why is ED lying about it?” He further questioned if the ‘pressure was so huge’ that they (ED) need to lie, to achieve the goal set out by their political bosses? Naik claimed to be an NRI since 2010, living and earning outside India.

Preacher  Zakir Naik said “I earn over a crore a month and I send money back to India, as and when required. I send it from my Dubai account to my India account and every penny is then accounted for in my tax returns, the papers for which are with the Indian agencies.” Further, he asked “Between 2010 and 2016 in the 6 year period, I must have sent 49crores to India. How is sending 65lakhs per month a problem? For a country that receives more than Rs 6,000crores every month from UAE based Indians, how is my Rs 65lakhs a problem?”

“I am a full-time preacher and part-time businessman. I do not charge for my lectures, nor do I earn from Peace TV, so I do need another revenue stream to survive, which I have. Implying that I could survive outside India without earning anything is not just illogical, it’s childish,” he added.