Page 17 - Money Laundering

CoinDCX collaborates with Jocata over anti-money laundering processes

The partnership with Jocata will enable CoinDCX to further augment its AML framework to navigate through the developing regulatory landscape

Ministers concerned over including GST IT network in money laundering act

India's state ministers have raised concerns over the inclusion of goods and services tax's (GST) information technology network under the country's money laundering act

ED files draft charges against NCP leader Malik; next hearing on July 24

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday submitted draft charges in a court here against former Maharashtra minister and NCP leader Nawab Malik in a money laundering case linked to the activities of fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and his aides. Special public prosecutor Sunil Gonsalves filed the draft charges before special judge R N Rokade. Besides Malik, who is in jail, draft charges were filed against three other accused in the case and the matter was adjourned for hearing on July 24. Draft charges are a step towards commencing trial in a criminal case. The court concerned has to hear both sides and decide which of the sections invoked by the investigating agency the accused can be charged with based on prima facie evidence. The court will then read out to the accused the charges he will face during the trial, and once he pleads not guilty, the trial can commence. Malik has sought bail from the Bombay High Court and his plea has been reserved for order. The ...

SC extends Satyendar Jain's bail till July 24 in money laundering case

The Supreme Court on Monday extended till July 24 the interim bail granted to former Delhi minister Satyendar Jain on medical grounds in a money laundering case being probed by the Enforcement Directorate. A bench of justices A S Bopanna and M M Sundresh directed senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for Jain, to submit the medical reports to Additional Solicitor General S V Raju. During the brief hearing, Singhvi submitted that three hospitals have recommended surgery for Jain. The top court on May 26 had granted interim bail to Jain for six weeks on medical grounds, saying a citizen has a right to receive treatment of his choice in a private hospital at his own expense. The ED had arrested Jain on May 30 last year on the charge of laundering money through four companies allegedly linked to him. The agency had arrested Jain in the aftermath of a CBI FIR registered against him in 2017 under the Prevention of Corruption Act. He was granted regular bail by the trial court on

Govt allows ED to share data with GSTN, move to help recovery of GST

The government has amended provisions of the money laundering Act to allow enforcement directorate (ED) to share information with GST Network. The move would help recovery of Goods and Services Tax (GST) evaded through money laundering. GSTN handles the technology backbone of the indirect tax regime and is the repository of all GST-related information, including return, tax filing and other compliances. As per the amendment to the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, GSTN has been included in the list of entities with which ED will share information. AMRG & Associates Senior Partner Rajat Mohan said notifying GSTN under PMLA would enable a legal framework under which high-value tax offenders can be traced, apprehended made liable to pay due taxes. GSTN can pass on relevant information on probable tax offenders to jurisdictional officers so as to initiate proceeding under GST law for scrutiny, adjudication and recovery of taxes, Mohan added. Nangia ...

Excise policy scam: Delhi HC set to pronounce order on Sisodia's bail plea

The Delhi High Court is scheduled to pass on Monday an order on the bail plea of AAP leader Manish Sisodia, arrested for his alleged role in the money laundering case relating to alleged irregularities in the city government's excise policy. As per a cause list uploaded on the court's website this morning, Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma will pronounce the order on Sisodia's bail plea at 2:30 PM. Besides Sisodia, the high court will also pass orders on the bail pleas of businessmen Abhishek Boinpally, Benoy Babu and Vijay Nair, who are co-accused in the money laundering case lodged by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arising from the alleged scam. Sisodia, former Delhi deputy chief minister and excise minister, was first arrested by the CBI on February 26 for his alleged role in the scam and has been in custody since then. The high court has already denied him bail in the CBI case on May 30. He was arrested on March 9 in the case lodged by the ED and is currently in judicial custody.

ED arrests Supertech's chairman R K Arora in money-laundering case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested real estate company Supertech's chairman and owner R K Arora on money-laundering charges on Tuesday, official sources said. Arora was taken into custody under the criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), following a third round of his questioning at the federal agency's office here, they said. He is expected to be produced before a special PMLA court here on Wednesday, where the ED will seek his further remand. The money-laundering case against the Supertech group, its directors and promoters stems from a clutch of FIRs registered by the police departments in Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. In April, the ED had attached assets worth more than Rs 40 crore of the real estate group and its directors.

Sebi asks bourses to identify money laundering risks from new product

Sebi on Friday asked the stock exchanges and market intermediaries to identify and assess the money laundering and terror financing risks that may arise from the development of new products and new business practices. In addition, they have been directed to undertake such risk assessments before the launch or use of such products, practices, services and technologies, Sebi said in its updated guidelines on anti-money laundering standards and combating the financing of terrorism obligations of securities market intermediaries. The development comes after the government amended the Prevention of Money Laundering (Maintenance of Records) Rules or PMLA rules in March. In its guidelines, Sebi said that every intermediary will have to register the details of a client, in case of the client is a non-profit organisation, on the DARPAN portal of Niti Aayog and maintain the records for five years after the business relationship between a client and the intermediary has ended or the account ha

Govt plans to ask lawyers to report clients' dubious transactions

The authorities believe the plan will help in faster recognition of dubious transactions involving shell companies and money laundering

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ED raids Tamil Nadu's electricity minister in money laundering probe

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday conducted searches against Tamil Nadu Electricity department minister V Senthil Balaji and some others as part of a money laundering investigation, official sources said. The raids are being carried out at Balaji's premises in state capital Chennai and Karur. The Supreme Court had last month allowed a police and ED probe into an alleged cash-for-jobs scam against Balaji, who also holds the Prohibition and Excise portfolio. The searches are being undertaken under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), they said. Last month, the Income-tax department too had searched people close to Balaji in the state.

Money laundering case: ED seizes Rs 7.5 cr cash, FDs after raids in Bihar

Cash and fixed deposits worth about Rs 7.5 crore have been seized after raids were carried out in a money laundering case linked to alleged illegal sand mining by some companies that led to the loss of Rs 250 crore revenue for the Bihar government, the ED said on Friday. The searches were carried out on June 5 at twenty-seven locations in Patna, Dhanbad and Hazaribagh in Jharkhand and Kolkata at the premises of the two firms Broadson Commodities Pvt. Ltd., Aditya Multicom Pvt. Ltd., their directors, chartered accountants and other associates, the agency said in a statement. The money laundering case was filed by the Enforcement Directorate after taking cognisance of various Bihar Police FIRs filed against the accused. The police FIRs, the ED said, were registered on the basis of complaints from the Bihar mining department against the accused for "illegal sand mining and its sale without using the departmental pre-paid transportation e-challan issued by the mining authority, thereby

ED attaches Rs 58 lakh worth of assets of travel agent in laundering case

Assets worth Rs 58 lakh of a Ludhiana-based travel agent have been attached as part of a money laundering probe linked to alleged cheating of people in the name of arranging work permit visas of different countries for them, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said on Friday. A provisional order of attachment has been issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to attach some commercial properties of the travel agent, Nitish Ghai, it said in a statement. The money laundering case stems from multiple FIRs filed by the Punjab Police against Ghai and some others. The travel agent has been accused of "cheating" the general public by offering them "false allurement" of providing work permit visas of different countries, a promise that never materialised nor the payments made by the victims were returned, the ED alleged. It was found that 35 police FIRs against the accused are currently under trial or under investigation. Bank accounts of Nitish Ghai were scrutinised and it

ED attaches Rs 124 cr worth assets of Surana Group in bank loan fraud

Assets worth about Rs 124 crore that were in possession of various entities linked to the Chennai-based Surana Group of companies have been attached in connection with a money laundering investigation related to three alleged bank loan frauds worth a total Rs 3,986 crore, the Enforcement Directorate said Wednesday. A provisional order under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) has been issued to attach 78 immovable properties, it said in a statement. The agency had attached assets of a similar value earlier in this case and with the latest order, the total attachment in the case stands at Rs 248.98 crore. The money laundering probe stems from three CBI FIRs filed against the accused in 2020 that alleged that three Surana Group companies, along with their promoters, directors and unidentified individuals, indulged in misappropriation and criminal breach of trust, manipulation of books of accounts through fictitious entities and routing of funds through shell (dummy) ...

Indian regulators step up scrutiny ahead of FATF review in Nov: Report

The Financial Action Task Force, an inter-governmental organisation to combat money laundering, is due to conduct an onsite review of India's regulations and supervision in November

Former Delhi minister Satyendar Jain granted bail by SC till July 11

Jain, who has been in Tihar Jail since May last year, was hospitalised on Thursday after he collapsed in the prison bathroom

Sebi planning to align foreign VC investment rules with those of FPIs

Changes in eligibility requirements to ensure due-diligence of money coming from this route to India

Three leading brokers on Sebi, RBI, Enforcement Directorate radar

Three top brokers of the country have come under the scanner of multiple regulatory and enforcement agencies, including for suspected money laundering and fraudulent trading activities amounting to several thousands of crores of rupees, senior officials said on Sunday. The officials also said that the three brokers, whom they refused to identify citing the ongoing nature of the investigations, have also been found to have been connected to PEPs (politically exposed persons) and the role of a key family member of a senior political leader in a key industrial state is also being investigated. The investigations have been underway for 4-5 years on multiple fronts against the three top brokers, who head organisations with businesses spread across multiple segments of the capital markets and the financial services sector including brokerage, investment advisory services, portfolio management, asset management fund and non-banking financial services. The agencies and regulators involved i

Changes in anti-money laundering law can impact foreign investment: CAs

Chartered accountants are seeking clarifications on the finance ministry's recent notification on extending the ambit of anti-money laundering law as it can adversely impact ease of doing business and facilitation of foreign investments. According to industry sources, chartered accountants (CAs) and company secretaries often act as formation agents for foreign companies setting up businesses in India and often provide their own address for communication in the initial phase. They also act as resident directors of the foreign company trying to establish presence in the country and also operate bank accounts on behalf of their clients. Industry sources said there is no way that an accountant can know whether the money that an investor is bringing into India is bonafide or laundered money and verify its source. In view of the pending review by the global watchdog on terror financing and money laundering scheduled later this year, the finance ministry has in recent months tightened and

Govt expands scope of money laundering law to cover firm's representatives

The law now also includes individuals who provide the company with an office or correspondence address or act as a trustee, the notification said