Lucknow: Enforcement Directorate (ED) will start questioning six employees of Mohammad Ali Jauhar University from Monday in connection with a money laundering probe into Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar Trust, linked to jailed Samajwadi Party leader and former Uttar Pradesh minister Azam Khan.The development follows searches conducted by the agency on Aug 19 at 10 locations associated with the trust and the university in Rampur, Saharanpur and Delhi. Officials said the action was part of a wider examination of the trust’s finances and transactions involving entities linked to the institution. The university’s vice-chancellor was also questioned last month, sources said.Investigators are focusing on alleged financial irregularities and suspected links between govt contractors and organisations connected to the university. The agency is tracing whether funds generated through govt contracts were routed, directly or indirectly, to the trust or the university it runs.Sources said summons were issued last month and ED is mapping the flow of money from contractors who obtained govt projects. Transactions recorded as donations, construction and development expenditure, and other financial dealings of trust-linked entities are being scrutinised for possible layering and diversion of funds.Officials are examining the origin of the funds, the bank accounts involved, the intermediaries through whom money may have moved, and its eventual utilisation. A key line of inquiry is whether money tied to govt projects was channelled into assets or activities connected to the university.The questioning is expected to shed light on internal financial procedures, payments to contractors and spending on development works.
