Never received funds from any government or political party: Neville Roy Singham

New Delhi: American millionaire Neville Roy Singham, who has been accused of spreading Chinese propaganda in India, on Tuesday rejected allegations that he had received funds or instructions from any government or political party, including China and the Communist Party of China.

In a statement to The Hindu newspaper, Singham, who currently resides in Shanghai, said the language used in the FIR filed by the Special Cell of Delhi Police "strongly suggests" that the claims were "influenced by misinformation from an article published by The New York Times."

"The NYT intentionally chose not to publish all the factual rebuttals that I provided to them on July 22, 2023, prior to their publication date," Singham said.

He also rejected the allegation of fraudulent infusion of funds through a "complex web of several entities" as mentioned in the FIR and in the NYT article.

"I also reject any innuendo that I violate any Indian or US law by working with banned organisations. There is just no proof of such accusations because they are untrue," Singham said.

Singham has been accused of spreading Chinese propaganda in India and abroad through his funding network and his IT consulting company, Thoughtworks, which he sold in 2017.

The Delhi Police FIR also claims that Singham has close ties with the Chinese government media machinery and has financed several news outlets that promote Beijing's agenda.

The NYT article had claimed that NewsClick was part of a global network that purportedly received funding from Singham to spread Chinese propaganda within India.

NewsClick founder Prabir Purkayastha and head of HR department Amit Chakraborty were arrested by the Delhi Police.

Singham said Thoughtworks, a digital solutions provider, had some government clients over the years, including the US, the UK and Australia, but not China.

"I was shocked to see the absurd attempt to connect me to the Chinese telecom companies, Xiaomi and Vivo, in the FIR. I have no knowledge of their activities in India. I have never had contact with, directly or indirectly received funding from, nor worked on behalf of these companies," Singham said.