Govt issues order to attach Rs 18,866 cr properties under PMLA

It has also taken a host of initiatives, including effective enforcement of law, to curb the menace of money laundering, says Santosh Kumar Gangwar

The government on Friday said it has issued provisional orders to attach properties worth Rs 18,866 crore for offences under the Money Laundering law.

It has also taken a host of initiatives, including effective enforcement of law, to curb the menace of money laundering in the country, Minister of State for Finance Santosh Kumar Gangwar said in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha.

"As of October 31, 2016, 658 provisional attachment orders have been issued by attaching properties worth Rs 18,866 crore. Further, 283 prosecution complaints have been filed for the offence of money laundering (under Prevention of Money Laundering Act)," he said.

Referring to the steps taken by the government to deal with the menace of black money, Gangwar said the government recently demonetised 500 and 1,000 rupee notes "in a historical move that will add record strength in fight against corruption, black money, money laundering, terrorism and financing of terrorists as well as counterfeit notes".

The other initiatives, he said, include enactment of the Benami Transaction Act, amendments to FEMA and foreign black money law.

Under the Black Money (undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act 2015, 648 declarations involving undisclosed foreign assets worth Rs 4,164 crore were made. The amount collected by way of tax and penalty in such cases is about Rs 2,476 crore.

As part of enforcement measures, during April 2014 to October 2016, the Income Tax department has conducted searches in 1,242 groups of assessees, seizing undisclosed assets worth Rs 2,029 crore. These assessees admitted undisclosed income of Rs 28,567 crore.

During the same period, 13,690 surveys conducted resulted in detection of undisclosed income of Rs 30,001 crore. Also, the I-T department has filed 1,514 prosecution complaints while offences were compounded in 2,244 cases and 75 persons have been convicted by the courts, Gangwar said.

Under the Income Declaration Scheme (IDS), the government has received 64,275 declarations disclosing undisclosed income of Rs 65,250 crore.