Private HP university promoters declared fugitive economic offenders in ‘fake’ degree case

A special PMLA court in Shimla has declared a mother and son duo, promoters of a Himachal Pradesh-based private university, as fugitive economic offenders (FEO) in a money laundering case linked to the alleged sale of “fake” degrees to students in Himachal Pradesh, officials said.

“A declaration has been made under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act (FEOA) of 2018 against Mandeep Rana and his mother Ashoni Kanwar,” they said.

The two are the promoters of a Solan-based Manav Bharti University, along with the main promoter and Kanwar’s husband, Raj Kumar Rana. Both of the accused declared as FEO are presently based in Australia, as per the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

The ED registered a case against the promoters in 2020 under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). It, in a statement issued in 2024, had alleged that Raj Kumar Rana and his associates “obtained” proceeds of crime worth ₹387 crore through the sale of “fake” degrees.

A chargesheet was filed by the ED in December 2022 against Raj Kumar Rana and 15 others. Subsequently, the special PMLA court in Shimla took cognisance in January 2023 and issued summons to Ashoni Kanwar and Mandeep Rana.

The two “did not comply” with the court’s order, and the court then issued open-ended non-bailable warrants against them in November 2023. The agency, on the strength of the FEO declaration, will now move to confiscate the assets of the two.

The FEOA is aimed at bringing to justice those people who have left India to evade the clutches of law after committing fraud with a benchmark value of at least ₹100 crore. Liquor baron Vijay Mallya and U.K.-based arms consultant Sanjay Bhandari have been declared FEO in the past.