ED to prioritise FEMA violation cases in 2025: Director Rahul Navin

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) will shift its focus toward violations under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) in 2025, announced the agency's Director Rahul Navin on Thursday.

Navin made the statement during the foundation day address of the federal agency, mentioning specifically "the next area where ED intend to focus this year is on FEMA violations."

Highlighting the agency's evolving priorities, the Director stated that ED has been entrusted with enforcing FEMA to ensure full compliance with regulations issued by the Central Government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). These include rules, directives, and circulars intended to regulate cross-border financial transactions.

"To fulfil this mandate, ED will conduct necessary investigations and adjudication, and will impose penalties in cases of defaults," the Director said.

Offences under the spotlight include export-import manipulations, breaches in foreign direct investment (FDI) norms, misuse of external commercial borrowings, landownership violations by non-residents, and unauthorised overseas fund transfers.

In a bid to ensure corrective action rather than just punitive measures, the Director added that the ED would encourage defaulters to file for compounding of offences where appropriate. The move is aimed at strengthening financial discipline while promoting voluntary compliance.

Meanwhile, Navin said the ED has registered a total of 5,113 new cases under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) from 2014 to 2024, averaging more than 500 cases per year, and issued 461 provisional attachment orders valued at Rs 30,036 crore.

Speaking on the occasion of ED Day, Navin said the PMLA was enacted in 2003 in India and came into force on July 1, 2005, but in the initial years, it was largely ineffective with less than 200 cases recorded per year and that too mostly restricted to drug related offences.

He said the total criminal property attached was only Rs 5,171 crore till 31st March, 2014, with the first prosecution complaint being filed only in 2012.

After 2014, the ED Director said, however, "there has been a significant step-up in enforcement activity and from 2014 to 2024, 5,113 new PMLA investigations were initiated averaging more than 500 cases per year."

Building on this momentum, Navin said, "We note with satisfaction that in the Financial Year 2024-25, 775 new PMLA investigations were launched, 333 Prosecution Complaints were filed, and notably 34 individuals were convicted."

During this period, he said, ED has issued 461 provisional attachment orders valued at Rs 30,036 crore - a 44 per cent increase in the number of attachments and a striking 141 per cent rise in their total value compared to the previous year.

As of March 31, 2025, the agency's chief said the total value of assets under provisional attachment stood at Rs 1,54,594 crore. "Although these assets earned through criminal activities have been secured through provisional attachment and seizures, a substantial portion remains unproductive until their final confiscation by courts, which is a time-consuming process. To unlock the economic potential of these assets and to compensate victims and legitimate owners, concerted efforts have been undertaken by the ED for restitution of these properties under the Non Conviction Based Confiscation and Restitution provisions of the PMLA and FEOA, in collaboration with key stakeholders such as banks, financial institutions, state governments, and law officers."

As per the ED Director, restitution of Rs 15,261 crore was done in 30 cases during Financial Year 2024-25 with the approval of the courts, and this process is likely to accelerate next year.