Page 18 - Money Laundering

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

Excise policy scam: Delhi court to hear businessman's bail plea on May 12

A Delhi court will hear on May 12 the bail application of businessman Amandeep Singh Dhall, arrested in a money laundering case related to the alleged excise policy scam. Special Judge M K Nagpal fixed the matter for hearing arguments on the bail application on a join request made by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the accused. The ED's Special Public Prosecutor N K Matta sought adjournment on the ground that the court has summoned Dhall and other co-accused on May 12 in pursuance to a supplementary prosecution complaint (ED's equivalent of a charge sheet) filed by the central probe agency against them. The counsel for Dhall also sought adjournment for addressing arguments on his bail application. "Hence, at joint request, the application is directed to be listed on May 12, for arguments. Accused be produced physically on the next date, as requested, the judge said in an order passed on May 4. The Delhi court on April 28 dismissed AAP leader and former Delhi minister Manish .

Manappuram in freefall as ED freezes Rs 143 cr-assets; sinks 21% in 3 days

With today's fall, the stock has lost 21 per cent since Wednesday, May 3 when the ED had first began searches at the company's premises

Top headlines: Double digit growth for Apple India, new PMLA rules & more

Business Standard brings you top news at this hour

SC grants liberty to Vijay Nair to move HC for early listing of bail plea

The high court had on April 12 sought the response of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Nair's plea seeking bail and posted the matter for further hearing on May 19

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 ...

ED attaches over Rs 40 cr assets of Supertech on money laundering charges

Assets worth more than Rs 40 crore of real estate group Supertech and its directors have been attached under the anti-money laundering law, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said on Wednesday. A provisional order was issued on Tuesday, under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), to attach 25 immovable properties located in Uttarakhand's Rudrapur and the 'Meerut Mall' in Uttar Pradesh's Meerut town, the federal agency said in a statement. The total value of these attached assets is worth Rs 40.39 crore, it said. The money laundering case against the Supertech group stems from a clutch of FIRs registered by the police departments in Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. It was alleged, the ED said, that the company and its directors indulged in "criminal conspiracy" to cheat people by collecting funds from prospective buyers as an advance against booked flats in their real estate projects and failed to adhere to its agreed obligations to provide the possession o

ED conducts searches in money laundering case against Atiq Ahmad: Report

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday conducted fresh searches in Uttar Pradesh as part of an ongoing money laundering investigation against gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad and those linked to him, sources said. The raids are being carried out at a dozen locations, including Prayagraj and its adjoining areas, they said. Ahmad is expected to reach Prayagraj from the Sabarmati Jail in Gujarat for his production in a local court in connection with the Umesh Pal murder case. He is being brought by a Uttar Pradesh Police team by road. Pal and his two police security guards were shot dead outside his home in Prayagraj's Dhoomanganj area on February 24 this year. Based on a complaint lodged by Pal's wife, a case was registered on February 25 against Ahmad, his brother Ashraf, wife Shaista Parveen, two sons, aides Guddu Muslim and Ghulam, and nine others. The Uttar Pradesh Police had on March 26 also taken Ahmad from the Sabarmati Jail to Prayagraj to produce him in a court.

ED attaches assets worth over Rs 118 cr in illegal forex trading case

The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday said it has attached various kinds of movable and immovable assets like mutual funds, shares, bonds, flats and houses worth more than Rs 118 crore as part of a money laundering probe into illegal forex trading by a company and its promoters. A provisional order for attachment of these properties, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), belonging to Prasenjit Das, Shailesh Pandey, Tushar Patel and a company called TP Global FX has been undertaken, the federal probe agency said in a statement. The money laundering case stems from an FIR registered by the Kolkata Police. The attached assets, worth a total of Rs 118.27 crore, is in the form of shares, mutual funds, bonds, AIF/PMS (alternative investment funds and portfolio management services), cash in bank accounts, a luxury vehicle (MG Hector), flats, commercial business places, hotels and resorts, it said. The probe found that Das, Pandey, Patel and some others used various "dummy

ED files second supplementary charge sheet in Delhi Excise scam case

The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday filed a supplementary charge sheet before a court here in a money laundering case related to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam. Special Judge Vikas Dhull put up the charge sheet before the judge concerned for consideration on April 14. This is ED's second supplementary Prosecution Complaint, the agency's equivalent of a charge sheet. The complaint has been filed against Raghav Magunta, Rajesh Joshi, Gautam Malhotra and firms related to them.

Dubai court rejects Sanjay Shah's appeal in fraud case; to extradite him

The Dubai Court of Cassation has rejected the appeal of British-Indian Sanjay Shah, who is wanted by Danish authorities on charges of money laundering and committing tax fraud to the tune of $1.7 bn

ED arrested 374 people in 5 years, directors of companies among them: Govt

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested 374 people, including directors of corporate firms, in the last five years under the anti-money laundering law, the government informed Parliament on Monday. Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary, in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, said that in major cases of "corporate fraud" like those against the Sterling Biotech group, a Vadodara-based company promoted by the Sandesara brothers, Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi, the ED has attached properties worth Rs 33,862.20 crore. The ED is a federal probe agency entrusted to implement the criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). "Out of these, assets worth Rs 15,113.02 crore have been confiscated and restituted to the public sector banks." "Further, the consortium of banks led by SBI has realised Rs 7,975.27 crore by sale of assets handed over to them by the Directorate of Enforcement," the minister stated. He was responding to a questio

Enforcement Directorate conduct searches in Chhattisgarh coal levy case

The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday conducted fresh searches at multiple locations in Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh as part of its ongoing money laundering investigation into an illegal coal levy case, official sources said. The investigation relates to "a massive scam in which illegal levy of Rs 25 was being extorted for every tonne of coal transported in Chhattisgarh by a cartel involving senior bureaucrats, businessmen, politicians and middlemen", the agency had earlier said. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had said an amount of at least Rs 540 crore was "extorted" over the last two years. Premises related to those allegedly linked to Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee treasurer Ramgopal Agrawal and arrested coal businessman Sunil Agarwal, besides a few others, in state capital Raipur and in Vishakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh were searched, the official sources said. Nine people, including state administrative service officer Saumya Chaurasia, coal trader Suryakant Tiwa

ED attaches Ambience Tower worth over Rs 252 cr in money laundering case

Delhi-based Ambience Tower belongs to Ambience Towers Pvt. Ltd, a company of Ambience Group, promoted by Raj Singh Gehlot, the ED said

Crypto exchange WazirX blocked 2,431 accounts between Oct 2022-March 2023

WazirX received 431 requests from law enforcement agencies, against a total transaction volume of $390 million during the above-mentioned period

ED attaches assets worth Rs 5.21 cr of Mineral Enterprises Ltd under PMLA

The assets attached are in the form of six immovable properties owned by the accused persons, the official said

Crypto wrap: Opposite to global sentiments, crypto market jumps big

Cryptocurrency news: According to some experts, however, despite the bull run, the investors must remain cautious

Crypto under PMLA: CoinDCX registers itself as reporting entity with FIU

As per the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, a reporting entity is required to conduct KYC verification of the customers and maintain their records