Money Launderers

Who is the Indian-origin billionaire Balvinder Singh jailed in Dubai?

Balvinder Singh Sahni is a well-known businessman in Dubai's elite circles. He is founder of RSG Group, a real estate and property management firm with operations in UAE, India, US and other countries

100 PMLA courts in country but money laundering trials delayed: ED

Timely completion of money laundering case trials continues to face several "systemic" and "procedural" hurdles, even though there are 100 special PMLA courts across the country, the Enforcement Directorate has said in its latest report. The federal probe agency has been regularly targeted by political parties in the opposition, alleging that its actions were biased and the conviction rate was "poor" -- a claim strongly refuted by the organisation. ED Director Rahul Navin defended the track record of his agency during an event held here on Thursday to mark the 'ED Day', saying its conviction rate was more than 93 per cent. Same day, the ED also released its first-ever annual report, where it devoted a specific chapter to 'Challenges in Expeditious Completion of PMLA Trials'. Till now, the estimate of yearly work done by the agency was clubbed in the 'Annual Report' of the Union finance ministry under which the ED works. "While the legal framework under PMLA (Prevention of Money ..

Mahadev app case: ED searches premises of EaseMyTrip's Nishant Pitti

The ED said that several top politicians and government officials from Chhattisgarh are suspected to be involved in illegal activities and money deals connected to the app

Cooperating with ED into alleged money laundering case, says Bhutani Group

Real estate firm Bhutani Infra on Saturday said it is co-operating with Enforcement Directorate (ED) in its investigation into alleged money laundering and fraud with property buyers. On Thursday, the ED searched multiple premises of two real estate companies and their promoters in Delhi-NCR as part of a money laundering investigation linked to alleged fraud with homebuyers, officials had said. The action is being taken against WTC Builder, its promoter Ashish Bhalla and the Bhutani Group, among others, they said. In a statement on Saturday, Bhutani Infra said it has severed all ties with the WTC Group earlier this month and "is now fully cooperating with the ED in its investigation." The company said that "it has no financial or operational connections to WTC, and any suggestion to the contrary is entirely false and misleading." Bhutani Group said "it is not involved in any of the current financial troubles surrounding WTC. On Thursday, the Gurugram office of the ED raided about

FATF calls on India to boost scrutiny of politicians' bank accounts

The recommendation is part of a FATF review of India's anti-money laundering systems that began in 2023

Determined to respond to financial crime risks: Singapore PM Wong

Singapore published a national asset recovery strategy report as part of its efforts to enhance its anti-money laundering

SC asks Delhi HC to rule on Satyendar Jain's bail plea in ED case on July 9

The Supreme Court asked the Delhi High Court on Tuesday to decide the bail plea of jailed former AAP minister Satyendar Jain in a money laundering case. A bench of Justices Manoj Misra and S V N Bhatti said bail matters should not be unnecessarily adjourned and asked the high court to decide Jain's plea on the next hearing date. Jain approached the top court against the six-week adjournment granted on his bail plea by the high court. He also contended that a similar issue was pending before the top court and therefore, his plea be tagged with it. On May 28, the high court sought the response of the Enforcement Directorate and asked it to file a status report on the matter. The court also called for the nominal roll of Jain from prison and listed the matter for further hearing on July 9. The ED arrested Jain on May 30, 2022, in the money laundering case based on a CBI FIR lodged against him in 2017 under the Prevention of Corruption Act. He was granted regular bail by a trial cou

HC refuses interim bail to businessman Arun Pillai in Delhi Excise scam

The Delhi High Court has refused to grant interim bail to Hyderabad businessman Arun Ramchandran Pillai, who is lodged in judicial custody in a money laundering case related to the alleged Delhi Excise scam, noting that he is receiving adequate medical treatment in jail. Pillai, who sought to be released on interim bail on medical grounds, submitted that his family has taken opinion from ayurvedic doctors who have opined that he needs to be admitted at an ayurvedic centre to undergo 21 days panchkarma therapy with further rest of 21 days. The high court said, Without commenting on the efficacy of Panchkarma treatment with regard to the back pain, suffice to say that the applicant needs to follow the treatment advice of the doctor and even thereafter if he does not get relief and then if so advised, he would be at liberty to file an application to explore the alternative remedies of ayurveda/ panchkarma treatment etc. A vacation bench of Justice Ravinder Dudeja noted that none of the

Excise case: HC issues notice to ED on bizman Arun Pillai's bail plea

Arun Ramchandra Pillai is presently in judicial custody and was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in the Delhi Excise Policy case

Nirav Modi, Mallya fled India due to agencies' delay in arrest, says court

Businessmen involved in multi-million dollar scams, such as Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi and Vijay Mallya, were able to flee the country because probe agencies failed to arrest them at the proper time, a special court here said recently. Special judge M G Deshpande made the remark while hearing a plea of an accused booked under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) seeking modification in his bail condition. The court on May 29 accepted the plea of Vyomesh Shah, an accused in a money laundering case, to drop the bail condition of getting the court's prior permission to travel abroad. The detailed order was made available recently. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had argued that allowing Shah's application would give rise to situations like Nirav Modi, Vijay Mallya and Mehul Choksi. Rejecting the probe agency's contention, the judge said, "I thoughtfully examined this argument and felt it necessary to note that all these persons fled because of the failure of the investigating

Money laundering case: IAS Manish Ranjan appears before ED for questioning

Senior IAS officer Manish Ranjan on Tuesday appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for questioning in a money laundering case in which the agency recently arrested Jharkhand Rural Development minister Alamgir Alam, official sources said. Ranjan arrived at the ED office here around 11.15 am, they said. Ranjan is a former secretary of the Rural Development department. He is currently the secretary of the Land, Road and Building department and had been asked to depose before the federal agency at its zonal office here on May 28. The IAS officer had earlier been summoned to appear before the ED officials on May 24 but he skipped the summons and had sought more time. The summons is linked to the ED investigation in which Congress leader and state Rural Development minister Alamgir Alam, his former personal secretary Sanjeev Kumar Lal and the latter's domestic help Jahangir Alam were arrested early this month. The agency had claimed to have recovered more than Rs 32 crore from

Supreme Court stays trial in money laundering case against Santiago Martin

The Supreme Court on Wednesday stayed the proceedings before a special court in a money laundering case against 'lottery king' Santiago Martin. A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan issued notice on a plea by Martin challenging the March 16 order of a special PMLA court in Kerala's Ernakulam dismissing his petition for keeping in abeyance the trial in the money laundering case registered by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Senior advocate Aditya Sondhi and advocate Rohini Musa, who appeared for Martin, said that the special court ought to have considered that the trial in the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) case can commence only after the conclusion of the trial in the predicate case. On March 16, the special court dismissed Martin's application seeking to keep in abeyance the trial in the ED case till the conclusion of trial in the predicate offence, a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) case related to an alleged lottery scam. In his plea before the top .

SC notice to ED on bail plea of Senthil Balaji in money laundering case

The Supreme Court on Monday sought response from the Enforcement Directorate on the bail plea of former Tamil Nadu minister V Senthil Balaji, who was arrested last year in connection with a money laundering case. A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan issued notice to the agency and directed it to file reply by April 29. The Madras High Court on February 28, while dismissing the bail petition, had said that if he is let out on bail in a case of this nature, it will send a wrong signal and that it will be against larger public interest. It had said the petitioner has suffered incarceration for more than eight months and therefore, it will be more appropriate to direct the special court to dispose of the case within a time frame. "Accordingly, there shall be a direction to the Principal Special Court, Chennai, to dispose of the case within a period of three months from the date of receipt of copy of this order," it had ordered. The high court ordered that the trial shall b

ED arrests ex-sepoy for conducting raids posing as investigating officer

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested its former sepoy for conducting a fake raid at a shop in Kolkata impersonating as the investigating officer and issuing "forged" summons to an accused to extort money, the agency said Tuesday. Sukumar Kamaliya, holding the rank of a head constable in the paramilitary force SSB, worked with the ED at its Kolkata office on deputation between 2019-2020, the agency said in a statement. He was taken into custody on April 16 and later produced before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Kolkata. The court sent him to ED custody till April 29, the agency said. He was found to be involved in conducting unauthorised search operation (by way of impersonation) in Kolkata and also issuing forged/fraudulent summons to one of the persons under investigation by impersonating the investigating officer," the ED alleged. The sepoy, in one case, obtained information about the investigation being conducted against a person in an ...

Crypto under PMLA: Industry gives thumbs up, expects higher investor faith

Cryptocurrency news: On Tuesday, the Centre issued a notification to bring VDAs under the ambit of anti-money laundering law in India

Supreme Court set to review PMLA verdict, reconsider two provisions

The court said it would re-examine two provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA)

What is PMLA Act? Money laundering, law statement and objectives

What is the Prevention of Money Laundering act and how does it affect a nation? Read this article to understand money laundering, the PMLA act, objectives of the PMLA act, FATF and everything

Judgment on plea challenging PMLA provisions 'almost ready', says SC

The petition says some provisions in the Act are unconstitutional, put a reverse burden on accused, give inspectors wide powers to arrest, and take away the right to silence

ED raids multiple locations in probe linked to Maha minister Anil Parab

Locations in Dapoli, Mumbai and Pune are being searched after the federal agency filed a fresh case under the criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA)

'Rs 19,111-cr assets attached out of total fraud by Mallya, Nirav & Choksi'

These figures were mentioned in the note submitted by Tushar Mehta in the SC, which is hearing arguments on a batch of petitions concerning the interpretation of certain provisions of PMLA