Page 15 - Money Laundering

ED arrests 3 more in money laundering case against Vivo-India, others

The Enforcement Directorate has made three fresh arrests in connection with its money laundering probe against Chinese smartphone-maker Vivo and some others, official sources said on Saturday. The three have been taken into custody under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), they said. The identity of the three people was not known immediately. The federal agency had earlier made four arrests in the case which included mobile company Lava International's MD Hari Om Rai, Chinese national Guangwen alias Andrew Kuang and chartered accountants Nitin Garg and Rajan Malik. They are in judicial custody at present. A charge-sheet was also filed by the Enforcement Directorate against these people recently before a special PMLA court in Delhi and the court took its cognisance recently.

Congress MP Karti Chidambaram appears before ED in money laundering case

Congress MP Karti Chidambaram appeared before the Enforcement Directorate here on Saturday in a money laundering case linked to the issuance of visa to some Chinese nationals in 2011, official sources said. The ED case pertains to the allegations of Rs 50 lakh being paid as kickbacks to Karti and his close associate S Bhaskararaman by a top executive of the Vedanta group company Talwandi Sabo Power Ltd. (TSPL), which was setting up a power plant in Punjab, according to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) FIR. The ED case stems from the CBI complaint. The agency will record the statement of the 52-year-old MP from Sivaganga Lok Sabha seat in Tamil Nadu under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Karti earlier said that the ED probe was a "fishing and roving" enquiry and that he has earlier submitted documents to the agency. He sought more time to collect documents as he skipped appearance on December 12 and December 16.

Vivo case: Notice to Tihar officials on Lava MD's plea against jail shift

ED recently arrested Chinese national Guangwen Kuang, Lava International's MD Hariom Rai Nitin Garg and Rajan Malik under a different section of the Money Laundering Act

India, US to improve cooperation against money laundering, terror financing

The joint statement stated that the India-US AML/CFT Dialogue is an effective forum for both countries to share perspectives and best practises on how to strengthen the collective efforts

India, US reaffirm pledge to fight illicit risks in global financial system

India and the US recently co-chaired the 'US-India Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) Dialogue'

ED attaches assets worth Rs 6.79 cr in case involving cheating in 4 states

The assets were attached under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, which include bank balances worth Rs 0.75 crore and immovable assets worth Rs 6.04 crore

Mahadev betting app case: Everything known about the Rs 6k cr scam so far

Authorities in Dubai have detained one of the masterminds behind the scam, Ravi Uppal and will be deported to India soon

CBI files FIR, searches 13 locations in Uco Bank fund transfer case

The CBI has registered an FIR in connection with Rs 820 crore worth of suspicious IMPS transactions in UCO Bank in November this year and searched 13 locations in multiple cities, officials said on Tuesday. The search operation, which continued till late night Monday, also covered Kolkata and Mangalore, they said. The CBI action came following the FIR that was registered on a complaint from UCO Bank against two support engineers working with the bank and other unknown persons. It alleged suspicious Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) transactions amounting to approximately Rs. 820 crore, the agency spokesperson said in a statement. During the searches, electronic evidence, including mobile phones, laptops, computer systems, email archives and debit/credit cards, were recovered, he said. "It was alleged that between 10th November 2023 and 13th November 2023, IMPS inward transactions originating from 14000 account holders across seven private banks were directed to 41000 account holders

ED raids in Haryana, Raj in money laundering case against Bishnoi gang

The Enforcement Directorate Tuesday conducted multiple raids in Haryana and Rajasthan as part of a money laundering investigation against the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, officials said. The central probe agency is covering around a dozen locations in the two states as part of the action being carried out under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. Bishnoi, currently in jail, is one of the accused in the murder case of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala. The ED's action stems from FIRs and charge sheets filed against the gangster by the National investigation Agency (NIA).

ED registers money laundering case in connection with oxygen plant fraud

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has registered a case of money laundering concerning the alleged fraud in setting up oxygen plants in hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic, police said on Saturday. The police's economic offences wing (EOW) had on November 24 arrested contractor Romil Chheda of M/s Highway Construction Company for allegedly causing the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) a loss of Rs 6 crore, an official said. The ED on Friday registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in connection with the fraud, he said. Chheda was awarded a contract to set up oxygen plants in nine BMC-run hospitals and two jumbo COVID-19 centres despite allegedly not having prior experience in executing such work, he said. According to the EOW, the fraud took place between April 2021 and January 2022 at the municipal workshop in Byculla and the oxygen plants on the premises of civic-run hospitals V N Desai, Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, GTB, Kasturba, BYL Nair, R N ..

Binance pleads guilty to US sanctions violation, will pay $4.3 bn fine

Zhao pleaded guilty Tuesday to violating the Bank Secrecy Act in federal court in Seattle. Richard Teng will succeed Zhao as CEO.

Amway generated proceeds of crime of over Rs 4k cr via MLM scheme: ED

Amway India, which runs a multi-level marketing (MLM) scheme, generated proceeds of crime worth more than Rs 4,000 crore and a substantial part of it was siphoned off to overseas bank accounts, the Enforcement Directorate alleged on Monday. The federal agency said this after filing a charge-sheet against Amway India Enterprise Pvt Ltd before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Hyderabad. The court took cognisance of the prosecution's complaint on Monday, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said in a statement. The criminal case of money laundering registered by the ED stems from multiple FIRs filed by the Telangana Police against Amway and its directors. It is alleged that they were promoting an "illegal money circulation scheme under the guise of sale of goods" and "cheating the general public by promising them very high commissions/incentives through simple enrolment of new members and by claiming that these commissions/incentives would continue in ...

Money laundering has become real threat with advent of tech, AI: SC

With the advancement of technology and artificial intelligence, economic offences such as money laundering have become a real threat to the functioning of the financial system of the country, the Supreme Court said on Monday while dismissing the bail plea of an accused. Dismissing the bail plea of an employee of Shakti Bhog Foods Limited in a money laundering case, a bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela M Trivedi said economic offences have serious repercussions on the development of the country as a whole. "With the advancement of technology and artificial intelligence, the economic offences like money laundering have become a real threat to the functioning of the financial system of the country and have become a great challenge for the investigating agencies to detect and comprehend the intricate nature of transactions, as also the role of the persons involved therein. "A lot of minute exercise is expected to be undertaken by the investigating agency to see that no innocent .

IMF asks Pakistan to strictly implement anti-money laundering laws

IMF staff directed Pakistan to devise a clear policy to detect 'suspicious transactions' in tax crimes and asked to pass clauses for strict punishment in the upcoming finance bill

ED raids Delhi Minister Raaj Kumar Anand in money laundering probe

The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday raided the premises of Delhi Cabinet Minister and AAP leader Raaj Kumar Anand and some others as part of a money laundering probe, official sources said. A dozen premises, including that of the minister in the Civil Lines area of the national capital, were being searched since 7:30 am, they said. The ED teams are escorted by a team of the CRPF. The probe against Anand is being undertaken as per provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMlA). The investigation stems from a charge sheet filed by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on charges of false declarations in imports for customs evasion of more than Rs 7 crore apart from international hawala transactions, the sources said. A local court recently took cognisance of the DRI prosecution complaint after which the ED filed a PMLA case against Anand and some others, they said. Anand, 57, is the minister for social welfare and SC/ST welfare among others in the Arvind ...

Delhi excise scam: HC denies bail to Mahendru in money laundering case

The Delhi High Court has denied bail to liquor businessman Sameer Manendru in a money laundering case related to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam, saying his right to healthcare cannot be allowed to overshadow the pressing need to investigate fairly. The high court observed that Mahendru, whose one of the grounds for seeking bail was his bad medical condition, was not suffering from any life threatening condition or sickness or infirmity which involves danger to his life and for which treatment cannot be provided to the applicant in jail. While the applicant's right to healthcare and medical treatment is a fundamental consideration, it cannot be allowed to overshadow the pressing need to investigate fairly and ensure that due legal processes are followed, Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma said. Mahendru was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on September 28, 2022, in the money laundering case. The high court said the allegations against the businessman were that he was one of t

Madras HC rejects bail plea of TN Minister Balaji in money laundering case

The Madras High Court on Thursday dismissed the bail petition of Tamil Nadu Minister V Senthil Balaji, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with a money laundering case. Justice G Jayachandran dismissed the bail petition of Senthil Balaji. The judge observed that since the brother of the petitioner was absconding and the petitioner was holding the post of a Minister without portfolio, he may likely tamper with witnesses. Balaji was arrested on June 14 by the ED in connection with a money laundering case linked to cash-for-jobs scam when he was the Transport Minister during the earlier AIADMK regime.

SC sets Nov 22 to hear review petition challenging various PMLA provisions

The top court has clarified that would be addressing issues only related to PMLA on certain parameters

RBI revises its KYC rules to strengthen money laundering prevention

The revised norms clarify the standing of principal officers (PO) in regulated entities (RE) who are responsible for furnishing information

Partners with 10% stake to come under beneficial owners: Sebi tweaks rules

Capital markets regulator Sebi on Friday tweaked guidelines pertaining to anti-money laundering standards, whereby partners holding a 10 per cent stake in a firm will come under the definition of beneficial owners. Earlier, the requirement was 15 per cent. The development comes after the government amended the Prevention of Money Laundering (Maintenance of Records) Rules or PMLA rules in September. In case the client is a partnership firm, the beneficial owner would be the one who has "ownership of/ entitlement to more than 10 per cent of capital or profits of the partnership or who exercises control through other means", Sebi said in its updated guidelines on anti-money laundering standards and combating the financing of terrorism obligations of securities market intermediaries. To ensure that the registered intermediaries properly discharge their legal obligations to report suspicious transactions to the authorities, the regulator said that the Principal Officer would be responsi