Report claims US-based Pakistan-linked NGO channelized fund raised to help Covid-hit India for terror funding
A report has claimed that the fund raised by United States-based Pakistan-linked charity organisations in the name of helping India in the COVID-19 crisis might have been used to sponsor terror attacks.
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', reports ANI news agency.
India received help from different parts of the globe as the nation was battered by a deadly second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, some organisations use the crisis to collect funds illegitimately in the name of charity, reports ANI.
The DisInfo Lab exposed several charity organisations, which managed to raise funds by exploiting India's hard-earned goodwill.
These organisations have close ties with radical Islamists and terrorists' organizations and are being run in cahoots with the Pakistan army, the news agency reported.
One such Islamic organisation is the IMANA-Islamic Medical Association of North America. "Funds worth tens of crores donated by well-meaning people world over to help India in crisis - has been stolen. There is no accountability and in the present globalised world, no mechanism to ensure any accountability," said the report.
The Islamic Medical Association of North America (IMANA) is an Illinois-based medical relief organization that was formally established as Islamic Medical Association (IMA) in 1967, and subsequently renamed IMANA.
Unlike several other organizations, IMANA was rather opaque in its recent charity drive during the Covid crisis and has provided "scanty details" about the manner it has spent crores of funds it has collected, reported ANI.
IMANA chairman Dr Ismail Mehr has been the leader of the "Help India Breathe" project.
It is important to note that IMANA has no office, brand, or representative in India. However, it did not stop them from organising an aggressive fundraiser in the name of providing support to India.
According to the Disinfo Lab's report, IMANA received huge amounts in a short span and frequently revised the target amount as soon as the previous target was met, reports the news agency.
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