The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday filed money-laundering charges against journalist Rana Ayyub and also filed cheating cases against her.

Earlier the probe agency in February attached Rs 1.77 crore of journalist Rana Ayyub in connection with a money laundering case lodged against her for allegedly misusing funds collected in the name of help and charity through a website -- ketto.com.

An ED official said Ayyub had allegedly misused the funds and diverted them into another account for personal expenses.

It was alleged that Ayyub, who writes for a global media house, cheated people on the pretext of Covid-19 and transferred the funds meant for charity to her personal account.

As per the complaint, Ayyub had opened a Fixed Deposit (FD) of Rs 50 Lakh, which was collected through a non-profit campaign, and diverted into FD from the savings account through net banking, reported Times Now.

The complaint against Ayyub was raised in August 2021 by one Vikas Sankrityayan, who alleged that "she cheated the general public in the name of charity." He filed a case with the Ghaziabad police.

Acting on his complaint, on September 7, 2021, an FIR was lodged against Ayyub at Indirapuram Police Station. She was booked under sections 403, 406, 418, 420 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), read with section 66D of the Information Technology Act.

It has been alleged that Ayyub collected funds from the general public in the name of a Covid-related fundraiser and misused the money. The sources of funds have also been under scanner.

Meanwhile, Ayyub, an active critic of the government, denied charges of financial irregularities and called the ED probe a "witch hunt" against her for standing against the Indian government.