Page 2 - Money Laundering

India imposes money laundering provisions on cryptocurrency sector

The Finance Ministry said in a notice on Tuesday that anti-money laundering legislation has been applied to crypto trading, safekeeping and related financial services

Delhi excise policy: Court sends YSRCP MP's son to ED custody till Feb 20

A Delhi court on Saturday sent Raghav Magunta, the son of YSR Congress Party MP Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy, to Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody till February 20 in a money laundering case related to alleged irregularities in the Delhi excise policy. Duty Judge Naresh Kumar Laka passed the order on an application moved by the ED seeking 10-day custody of Manguta, alleging that he participated and knowingly assisted various processes or activities of possession, use, transfer, etc. of the proceeds of crime worth at least Rs 180 crore. In addition, even after multiple opportunities and recorded statements of the other accused, he was not cooperating with the investigation and did not reveal facts which are crucial for the investigation and he has exclusive knowledge of. Hence, custodial interrogation of Magunta is the need of the hour, the ED told the judge. It further said that the arrestee also needed to be confronted with digital and physical records seized during 189 search ...

ED arrests YSR Congress MP's son in Delhi excise policy money laundering

The Enforcement Directorate has arrested Raghav Magunta, son of YSR Congress Party MP from Ongole Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy, in connection with its money laundering investigation into alleged irregularities in the Delhi excise policy case, officials said Saturday. Raghav Magunta was taken into custody under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on Friday evening, they said. He is expected to be produced before a local court, where the federal probe agency will seek his custody. This is the ninth arrest in this case by the ED, and the third this week. It arrested Gautam Malhotra, son of former SAD MLA from Punjab Deep Malhotra, and Rajesh Joshi, the director of an advertising company called Chariot Productions Media Pvt Ltd, earlier in the week. The agency had alleged that a cartel called 'South Group' of liquor retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers was created as part of the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy, and the father and son duo were part of it. It had searched .

Hindenburg's accusations against Adani Group put money-laundering in focus

A more than $100 billion rout in the share prices of the highly leveraged infrastructure owner has the potential to spark a broader contagion, especially if the local banking system gets infected

Hearing in money-laundering case against Sanjay Raut adjourned till Feb 27

Rajya Sabha member Raut was present before special judge R N Rokade on Tuesday

Delhi HC rejects journalist Raghav Bahl's plea in ED money laundering case

A single-judge bench of Justice Jasmeet Singh dismissed the plea observing that the investigation is not over yet and the petition is premature

SC to hear journalist Rana Ayyub's plea in money laundering case on Jan 25

The Supreme Court Monday said it will hear on January 25 the petition of journalist Rana Ayyub challenging the summons issued to her by a special PMLA court in Ghaziabad in a money laundering case lodged by the ED. A bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, and Justices V Ramasubramanian and J B Pardiwala, posted the matter after senior advocate Vrinda Karat mentioned it. Karat told the court that the Bench which was scheduled to hear the matter Monday was not available, and requested the bench to post the matter for hearing later today at 2 pm. "We will keep this day after tomorrow before an appropriate bench. Today will be difficult," the bench said. On January 17, a bench led by CJI Chandrachud had agreed to consider listing the plea of Ayyub for urgent hearing after taking note of the submissions of advocate Vrinda Grover who appeared for her. Grover had said a summons was issued by the special court in Ghaziabad against Ayyub for January 27 and therefore the matter be listed .

Rs 635-cr money laundering: ED files charge sheet against Maharashtra MLA

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a charge-sheet against Maharashtra MLA Ratnakar Gutte before a special court here in connection with an alleged multi-crore loan fraud. As per the probe agency, Gutte, Rashtriya Samaj Paksha MLA from Gangakhed in Parbhani district, is accused of laundering Rs 635 crore through Gangakhed Sugar and Energy Private Limited (GSEPL), of which he was chairman. Gutte, as per the ED charge-sheet, tied up with several banks between 2012 and 2017 and obtained agricultural loans by using documents like PAN and property details of farmers. The GSEPL was an agent in this agreement. As per the ED, banks sanctioned Rs 772.31 crore, of which Rs 635.89 crore were disbursed in fictitious accounts created in the name of farmers using these documents, and the money was siphoned off. A sum of Rs 272 crore is pending for repayment, the ED said, adding it has attached 22 immovable properties, bank accounts and other movable properties worth Rs 255 crore connected

Excise scam: Court extends judicial custody of four accused till Jan 7

A Delhi court on Monday extended till January 7 the judicial custody of four accused, arrested in a money laundering case related to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam also involving Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia. Special Judge M K Nagpal extended the custody of businessmen Sharath Reddy, Binoy Babu, Vijay Nair and Abhishek Boinpally after they were produced before the court, noting that the bail petitions of all these accused is presently pending in this court for arguments on different dates. The special judge passed the order after noting the submissions of Enforcement Directorate's special public prosecutor N K Matta that the agency was in process of filing a supplementary charge sheet against all arrested accused. The ED told the court that the charge sheet is likely to be filed by January 6. The agency had earlier told the court that the next charge sheet would be common against all the arrested accused in the money laundering case related to the alleged Delhi excise

Story in numbers: PMLA registrations up four-fold, higher than a decade ago

According to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) data on PMLA, 5,422 cases are under investigation, 400 have been arrested and 25 convicted until March 31, 2022

Court convicts former chemical & fertilisers ministry official in PMLA case

A special court in Bengaluru has convicted a former official of the ministry of chemical and fertilisers and his wife on money laundering charges for siphoning more than Rs 1.25 crore from the funds of the Central Institute of Petrochemicals Engineering and Technology, the ED said on Friday. The designated PMLA court "convicted H N Arvind and Binu H Arvind for offences committed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and sentenced H N Arvind to rigorous imprisonment for a period of four years along with imposition of fine of Rs 1 lakh." "The court also sentenced Binu H Arvind to rigorous imprisonment for a period of three years along with imposition of fine of Rs 50,000," the Enforcement Directorate said in a statement. The money laundering case stems from an earlier CBI FIR that charged H N Arvind for siphoning off a sum of Rs 1,25,71,209 when he was working as a technician (grade-I) in the central institute of plastic engineering and technology in Mysuru (Karnataka). The ..

ED seizes assets of Saravana Stores worth Rs 66 cr in money laundering case

The Enforcement Directorate said it has attached immovable properties of Saravana Stores in Chennai amounting to Rs 66.93 crore in connection with a money laundering case for defrauding Axis Bank

ED seizes assets worth Rs 81 cr from Hisar-based firm in ponzi scheme case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) said that it has attached movable and immovable properties worth Rs 81.7 crore related to Future Makers Lifecare Pvt Ltd, a Hisar-based company

ED attaches Rs 213 cr worth 'proceeds of crime' related to money laundering

The Enforcement Directorate has attached Rs 212.91 crore proceeds of crime (PoC) in cases where online betting and gambling sites/apps were used for money laundering and hawala transactions, Parliament was informed on Tuesday. In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said the Directorate of Enforcement is investigating several cases related to cyber crimes and crypto assets related frauds. In a few cases, it has been noticed that online betting and gambling sites/apps were used for money laundering and hawala transactions. "In these cases, as on December 16, 2022, PoC amounting to Rs 212.91 crores have been identified which stands attached / freezed / seized under the provisions of PMLA. Also, 03 Prosecution Complaints have been filed in these cases," he said. In reply to a separate question, the minister said the central government has constituted an Inter-Ministerial Task Force (IMTF) to look into all aspects of online gaming ...

ED freezes funds worth over Rs 51 cr in mobile apps money laundering case

The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday said it has frozen funds worth Rs 51.11 crore under the anti-money laundering law after raiding premises linked to a mobile app company that allegedly duped investors on the pretext of providing "very high" returns. The searches were carried out on December 9 at locations in Noida, Pune and Bengaluru in the case of "misuse" of Matrix Partners Fund (MPF) app and some other apps related to it. The money laundering case stems from a November 2021 FIR filed by the Meghalaya Police against entities/persons behind the MPF app. The MPF app was a "scam investment application which promised very high returns, thereby luring gullible investors throughout the country to invest their hard-earned money in false expectation of high returns", the ED said in a statement. "During investigations, it has emerged that a large number of companies were connected to this app, which ran many other apps related to investment scams, loans, games, betting, rummy ...

IFFCO scam: Money laundering affects promotes terrorism, says court

Money laundering not only affects the social and economic fabric of the nation but also promotes terrorism, a Delhi court said on Wednesday while dismissing the the bail application of an accused in the alleged IIFCO fertiliser scam where Rs 685 crore was claimed to have been paid as kickbacks. Special Judge Vikas Dhull made the observations while denying relief to Sanjay Jain, who was arrested for allegedly channelling the proceeds of crime from foreign shores to India. The case relates to payment of illegal commissions worth over Rs 685 crore to the NRI sons of Indian Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative Limited (IFFCO) Managing Director and CEO U S Awasthi and Indian Potash Ltd (IPL) Managing Director P S Gahlaut and others by overseas suppliers during 2007-14. This was allegedly done through transactions facilitated by AgustaWestland VVIP choppers deal case accused Rajiv Saxena. The case also involves RJD Rajya Sabha MP Amarendra Dhari Singh, who is currently out on bail. The court .

ED attaches Kerala cooperative bank agent's assets worth Rs 30.70 crore

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached assets worth Rs 30.70 crore of a commission agent of Karuvannur Service Co-operative Bank Ltd, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act in a cheating case. According to ED, the attached assets include 20 immovable properties consisting of land and building in Kerala, two premium cars, Rs 3,40,000 and foreign currency totalling Rs 2,08,124. The sleuths attached bank balances also in A K Bijoy's 57 accounts worth Rs 35,86 990. The central agency said he illegally sanctioned and disbursed loan to the tune of Rs 26.60 crore in cash without any collateral due to systematic conspiracy hatched and perpetuated by the secretary and committee members of the bank since 2010. "The ED initiated a money laundering investigation on the basis of the FIRs registered by the Kerala police under section 420 of the IPC. Kerala police (Crime Branch) has registered more than 16 FIRs in Thrissur District regarding fraud in Karuvannur Service Co-Operative .

Identifying an offshore investor

FPIs incorporated under different structures in different jurisdictions create regulatory loopholes and make it difficult to identify the true beneficiary of foreign investing entities

I-T dept sends notices to firms to enquire about their foreign assets

The Income Tax department's intelligence unit has sent notices to at least eight firms in Mumbai and has also asked for information on their directors

DHFL 34,615 cr loan fraud case: Money laundered via 87 shell firms

The CBI in its charge sheet lodged in the Rs 34,615 crore DHFL loan fraud case has said that the accused created 87 shell companies and 2,60,000 fake borrowers to launder money