ED to repatriate assets attached in Switzerland, Australia

In 2013-14, ED completed 1,836 FEMA & PMLA investigations, against 1,288 in the preceding year

In another step to check the black money menace India has succeeded in convincing Switzerland and Australia to attach properties of tax evaders in those countries and repatriate it to India.

"Bilateral cooperation in intelligence and investigations with several key jurisdictions has been growing, and leading to tangible outcomes, for example, successful overseas attachments in Australia and Switzerland. We hope to record more such in the coming years," Enforcement Director Rajan Katoch said at the Enforcement Day function today.

An official in the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said India is now trying to repatriate the attached assets, which included a $3 million bank account in Switzerland and $10 million worth of property in Australia.

ED enforces two legislations-Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA). Property is attached under PMLA to deprive the offender the proceeds of crime. As many as 127 total attachments (both domestic and overseas) worth Rs 1,759 crore were effected in 2013-14, compared with only 65 attachments in 2012-13.

Katoch expressed concerns that the directorate was "seriously short of manpower", with only about one third of its 2064 positions being filled. He said legal challenges were growing and needed priority attention, but added that ED still managed to bring down "drastically" the backlog of FEMA adjudication.

In 2013-14, ED completed 1,836 FEMA & PMLA investigations, against 1,288 in the preceding year, with a mere 5% increase in staff in the same period. It stepped up filing of prosecutions from 11 in 2012-13 to 55 last year.

Since the coming into force of PMLA in 2005, ED has traced and attached laundered assets worth Rs 5,346 crore in 326 cases, arrested 32 money launderers, and launched prosecution in 104 cases.

President Pranab Mukherjee asked the ED to achieve greater efficiency and cooperate with concerned international agencies to expedite steps to bring back stolen assets spirited abroad. He said cooperation needs to be optimally utilised by ED for bilateral exchanges and follow up with other agencies for better mutual cooperation on Anti Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism.

"Effective measures against money laundering and terror financing are essential in today's global economic and security environment, and these are rightly being addressed on priority by most countries. Such measures also foster a more business friendly setting and facilitate legitimate investments and financial flows," he said.

The function was also attended by Financial Services Secretary Rajiv Takru, President of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Vladimir Nechaev and Federal Office of Justice Swiss Confederation Mario Michel Affentranger among others.