The Delhi Red Fort car blast investigation has pointed towards Javed Ahmed Siddiqui, the founder and managing trustee of the Al-Falah University in Faridabad. Siddiqui has been in the news as an old criminal case of cheating has surfaced, along with a corporate network of nine firms.
Siddiqui got the spotlight as the doctors associated with Al-Falah University who were recently identified and investigated as part of an alleged “white-collar terror module”. Dr Umar Nabi and Dr Muzammil Shakeel (also known as Muzammil Ahmad Ganaie), both doctors who were linked to the terror module, were working at Al-Falah University.
According to NDTV, Siddiqui has been linked to nine corporate firms in education, software, financial services, and energy sector. The nine firms are further connected to Al-Falah Charitable Trust, which oversees Al-Falah University’s functioning.
Who is Javed Ahmed Siddiqui?
Javed Ahmed Siddiqui was born in Madhya Pradesh and graduated from Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya in Indore. According to Times of India Siddiqui joined Al-Falah Investments as director on September 18, 1992. This investment firm is the first of the corporate entities related to the Al-Falah Charitable Trust that Siddiqui has joined.
The Al-Falah Medical Research Foundation began in 1997 as an engineering college and now operates on a 78-acre campus. However, currently it is facing an inquiry by the NAAC.
What are the nine corporate firms?
Al-Falah Investment (the first company, started in 1992)
Al-Falah Medical Research Foundation
Al-Falah Developers Pvt Ltd
Al-Falah Industrial Research Foundation
Al-Falah Education Service Pvt Ltd
MJH Developers Pvt Ltd
Al-Falah Software Pvt Ltd
Al-Falah Energies Pvt Ltd
Tarbia Education Foundation
As per the NDTV report, most of these firms were active till 2019, after which they were either shut down or became inoperative.
Cheating criminal case
In an old cheating case, Siddiqui and his associates encouraged people to deposit funds in their group of companies, which were converted into shares later through document fabrication. The accused gathered a fund of Rs 7.5 crore, then diverted the money to their personal accounts.
According to Times of India (TOI), the case was registered in 2000 at Delhi’s New Friends Colony Police Station. The TOI report further mentioned that Siddiqui and his birther, Saood Ahmed, were named in an FIR (43/2000) under section 420 (cheating), 406 and 409 (criminal breach of Trust), 468 (forgery for cheating), 471 (fraudulent use of forged documents) and 120 B (criminal conspiracy) of IPC.
Siddiqui, arrested in 2001, was denied bail by the Delhi High Court in March 2003 due to forensic findings confirming forged signatures on share certificates. He did not secure bail until February 2004, a condition of which was agreeing to refund the investors he had defrauded.
