The US Agency for International Development (USAID), which has been criticized by the Trump administration for promoting a “left, liberal, and woke” agenda overseas, has come under scrutiny by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with an ongoing investigation into hedge fund operator George Soros.
The ED, which is investigating three Bengaluru-based companies for allegedly violating the Foreign Exchange Management Act by receiving Rs 25 crore from the Soros Economic Development Fund (SEDF), discovered that one of them, ASAR Social Impact Advisors, also received Rs 8 crore from USAID as a foreign inward remittance in 2022-23.
Soros provided funding to the three firms between 2021 and 2024.
According to sources, ASAR explained that the USAID funding was a reimbursement for services provided to the Council on Energy, Environment, and Water (CEEW), a Delhi-based public policy think tank that, according to its website, focuses on “understanding global challenges and implications for India’s development.”
CEEW’s trustees include Montek Singh Ahluwalia, former deputy chairman of the Planning Commission, and Suresh Prabhu, a minister in the first Modi government.
Content retrieved from: https://www.firstpost.com/india/usaid-funding-under-ed-scanner-over-soros-link-to-indian-firms-13876481.html.
