A US congressional investigation into organisations linked to Shanghai-based US businessman Neville Roy Singham has drawn attention to funding networks connecting left-wing media, research institutions and political advocacy groups. In India, the scrutiny intersects with BreakThrough News coverage of Delhi protests involving the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), CPI(M), other left parties and left-wing student organisations. It also revives questions about Singham-linked funding received by NewsClick, investigated by Indian agencies in 2023.
US Congress sets deadline for three organisations
On October 13, US House Ways and Means Committee chairman Jason Smith warned three tax-exempt organisations linked to Singham that they had until October 20 to comply with congressional subpoenas or face further action, including possible depositions of 21 officials and staff members. The organisations are The People’s Forum, BreakThrough News and Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research.
The committee issued subpoenas in July after the organisations did not provide documents sought during its investigation into foreign funding and the US nonprofit sector. Lawmakers want records on finances, organisational control, communications with Singham or foreign entities, and overseas donations. Potential depositions would cover eight people at The People’s Forum, seven at BreakThrough News and six at Tricontinental. The committee is examining whether US tax laws prevent foreign interests from concealing funding or exercising influence through nonprofits.
"Congratulations Gen Z of Bangladesh, for showing us the way"
~ Neha Bora pic.twitter.com/LFipXjRuKS
— Facts (@BefittingFacts) October 15, 2026
The committee has also examined Singham’s connections to Chinese media ventures, including Shanghai Maku Cultural Communication. In September 2026, Smith and John Moolenaar, chairman of the House Select Committee on China, asked the US Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service to investigate the wider network. BreakThrough News said on October 9 that it was being targeted for its political views and received no outside editorial direction. Its lawyers raised First Amendment objections. The committee says its inquiry concerns finances and organisational control.
Who is Neville Roy Singham?
Singham is an American technology entrepreneur who founded the consultancy ThoughtWorks and now lives in Shanghai. He has financed left-wing advocacy, research and media organisations through businesses, nonprofit entities and donor-advised funds. The congressional inquiry centres on the amounts transferred to organisations associated with him and the routes through which the money travelled.
According to the committee’s July 2026 correspondence, more than $22 million flowed from a Singham-linked donor-advised fund to The People’s Forum and more than $16 million to Tricontinental between 2017 and 2022. The committee also cited approximately $1.1 million for BreakThrough News between 2022 and 2023.
Republican Representative Darin LaHood has described a structure in which money moved through businesses, privately held companies and donor-advised funds before reaching nonprofit recipients. The committee is seeking records that could clarify the original sources of funds, the intermediaries involved and the extent of any donor influence over recipient organisations.
The People’s Forum hosts political and cultural events; Tricontinental publishes research and commentary; and BreakThrough News produces news reports and interviews. Their reported financial connections to Singham have brought them under the same investigation.
BreakThrough News and Delhi’s left-wing protests
BreakThrough News has repeatedly covered Indian protests since July 2026, featuring political representatives, student activists and commentators associated with left-wing organisations. On 23 July, its BT Live programme hosted CPI(M) MP John Brittas to discuss the CJP sit-in. On 30 July, it published India’s Cockroach Rebellion and What Comes Next, written by Atul Chandra, who works with Tricontinental. On 29 August, it covered protests involving the Students’ Federation of India (SFI), the All India Students’ Federation (AISF) and the All India Students’ Association (AISA), quoting the CPI(M) and Tricontinental executive director Vijay Prashad.
Shameful Display on Foreign Soil
Anti-India rhetoric has reared its head once again as members of the Left-wing Students' Federation of India (SFI-UK) staged a protest and chanted "Azaadi" slogans outside the High Commission of India in London pic.twitter.com/g4OFP70Jbc— political Baddie🪷 (@DramaIndi62512) October 17, 2026
On September 1, 2026, the outlet carried material concerning the fabricated findings by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) relating to India. The Ministry of External Affairs rejected the findings, according to the material supplied for this report. On 7 October, BreakThrough News quoted Brittas describing protests against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar as a “historical movement to save democracy”. It also reported AISA president Neha Bora’s stated determination to continue the agitation until the Chief Election Commissioner was removed.
The congressional correspondence cites approximately $1.1 million in Singham-linked funding for BreakThrough News during 2022–2023. Its repeated coverage of Delhi’s left-wing protests has given international visibility to CPI(M) representatives and student activists, placing its funding relationships alongside questions about political advocacy and media coverage.
Student organisations and overseas advocacy
The Delhi protests have involved student organisations associated with India’s Left. AISA is linked to the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation, SFI to the CPI(M), and AISF to the Communist Party of India. According to the reports, AISA president Neha Bora and two activists began a hunger strike at Jantar Mantar on 28 June 2026. The 23-day agitation ended in July, and SFI, AISF and other left-wing student groups participated in subsequent demonstrations connected to the CJP movement.
Overseas advocacy organisations have also publicised Indian protests. The Indian Alliance Paris (IAP), SFI UK and Hindus for Human Rights (HfHR) are among groups identified in material examining the international circulation of narratives about Indian politics. IAP’s participation in a 2023 teach-in at The People’s Forum links an overseas advocacy organisation to a venue associated with Singham’s funding network.
The People’s Forum and CodePink also signed the 2024 Savera declaration concerning “Hindu supremacy”. CodePink co-founder Jodie Evans is Singham’s wife. The declaration brought arguments about Hindu nationalism and Indian politics into international advocacy discussions.
Tricontinental and the NewsClick funding trail
Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research, led by historian and journalist Vijay Prashad, is another organisation central to the US inquiry. Its work focuses on international politics, socialism and the Global South. Atul Chandra, author of India’s Cockroach Rebellion and What Comes Next, is identified by the institute as its Asia regional coordinator. The congressional committee has cited more than $16 million in funding to Tricontinental from a Singham-linked donor-advised fund between 2017 and 2022.
The institute’s India-related personnel include Subin Dennis, a former Delhi SFI vice-president who wrote for NewsClick, Nitheesh Narayanan, described as an SFI activist since 2003, P. Ambedkar, associated with SFI and NewsClick, and Abhinav VK, whose background includes SFI and the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI). Their biographies show overlapping political and professional networks linking student activism, research and media.
Singham’s Indian connections came under intense scrutiny in August 2023, when The New York Times published an investigation alleging that NewsClick was among organisations funded by a network associated with Singham that promoted Chinese government narratives internationally. The report renewed attention to financial transfers that Indian authorities had already been investigating.
NewsClick, the ED and earlier Indian investigations
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had investigated NewsClick’s foreign remittances before the 2023 controversy. According to the agency, the outlet received substantial foreign funds between 2018 and 2021 through entities that investigators linked to Singham. The ED identified Rs 76.84 crore from the Justice and Education Fund and Rs 1.61 crore from The Tricontinental Ltd among the remittances received by NewsClick. Investigators questioned whether the payments corresponded to genuine services and said that the arrangements involved opaque foreign funding.
CPI(M) leaders tried to march from Kerala House to Jantar Mantar. MA Baby, Brinda Karat, KK Shailaja and others detained immediately; John Brittas, Pinarayi Vijayan, KN Balagopal march towards Jantar Mantar and detained after. pic.twitter.com/TiGrJG2Q3d
— Jahnavi Sen (@jahnavi_sen) October 10, 2026
In November 2023, Delhi Police’s Economic Offences Wing sought financial information from US authorities concerning five entities linked by investigators to Singham. The request covered Worldwide Media Holdings, the Justice and Education Fund, GSPAN LLC, Tricontinental Ltd and a related support foundation. Police sought details of transactions and the sources of funds transferred to NewsClick.
In October 2023, Delhi Police arrested NewsClick founder-editor Prabir Purkayastha and human resources head Amit Chakraborty in a case involving allegations of illegal funding and conspiracy.
In May 2024, media reported that Delhi Police had issued notices to Singham, business associate Jason Pfetcher, Tricontinental executive director Vijay Prashad and two NewsClick journalists. The case brought donor-advised funds, foreign companies and research organisations into scrutiny of financial routes connecting Singham-linked entities to Indian media.
A cross-border network under scrutiny
The current US inquiry places BreakThrough News, Tricontinental and The People’s Forum alongside the earlier Indian investigation into NewsClick. BreakThrough News has covered Delhi protests involving CJP, CPI(M), SFI, AISF and AISA, Tricontinental publishes commentary on Indian politics, and NewsClick previously received funds from entities Indian investigators linked to Singham.
The committee is seeking records on financial arrangements, governance and communications connecting the three US organisations to Singham and foreign entities. Those documents could provide further details about funding routes and relationships between donors and recipients.
