Page 21 - Money Laundering

Pakistan may exit global terror watchdog FATF's grey list on Friday

After four years, Pakistan on Friday may exit the grey list of the global watchdog on terror financing and money laundering FATF, a development that will allow it to try to get foreign funding to tide over its precarious financial situation. Till June, Pakistan had completed most of the action items given to it 2018 by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and a few item which were left unfulfilled including its failure to take action against UN designated terrorists, including Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar, Lashker-e-Taiba (LeT) founder Hafiz Saeed and his trusted aide and the group's 'operational commander' Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi. Azhar, Saeed and Lakhvi are most wanted terrorists in India for their involvement in numerous terrorist acts, including 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks and bombing of a CRPF bus at Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir in 2019. Pakistan was put in the inglorious list in 2018 for its failure to check risk of money laundering, leading to corruption and terro

Sanjay Raut's bail hearing to continue on Oct 21 in money laundering case

A special court on Tuesday said it would continue hearing on October 21 into the bail plea of Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut, arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in an alleged money laundering case. Special Judge M G Deshpande also extended Raut's judicial custody till October 21 after he was produced in the court at the end of his remand on Tuesday. In the court, Raut met NCP leader Eknath Khadse, who had come there to mark his presence in connection with a money laundering case lodged against him by Enforcement Directorate (ED). The two leaders spoke briefly during which Raut was heard telling Khadse he would be out of the prison soon. The ED's probe against Raut pertains to alleged financial irregularities in the redevelopment of a Patra Chawl (row tenement) and related financial transactions involving the Sena leader's wife and associates. On Tuesday, Raut's counsel Ashok Mundargi completed his rejoinder arguments during which he told the court that the allegations levelled agai

Less than 1% of illegal money gets recovered by agencies: Interpol

On a global level, the most significant rise was seen in organised crime which was prevalent in both, the digital as well as the physical world

Pak may exit FATF's grey list during watchdog's Oct 20-21 plenary: report

Pakistan is likely to exit the grey list of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) this week after it was placed in the infamous category since 2018 for failing to check money laundering and terrorist financing, a media report said on Monday. Pakistan was included in the increased monitoring list in June 2018 for deficiencies in its legal, financial, regulatory, investigations, prosecution, judicial and non-government sector to fight money laundering and combat terror financing considered serious threat to global financial system, the Dawn newspaper reported. The Paris-based global watchdog on money laundering and terrorist financing said that the first FATF Plenary under the two-year Singapore Presidency of T. Raja Kumar will take place on October 20-21. Pakistan has made high-level political commitments to address these deficiencies under a 27-point action plan. But later the number of action points was enhanced to 34. The country had since been vigorously working with FATF and i

ED 'completely independent'; not used for vindictive purpose: Sitharaman

The Enforcement Directorate is "completely independent" in what it does, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said, refuting allegations that it is being used by the government for political or vindictive purposes. Speaking at a news conference on Saturday towards the end of her trip to Washington where she attended the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, Sitharaman denied causing any kind of fear in the corporate sector and the civil societies through two of its wingsthe Income Tax and the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Well, the ED is completely independent in what it does and it is an agency which follows on predicate offences. The first offence is already picked up by any other agency, whether it is a Central Bureau of Investigation or any other agency, and it is post that the ED comes into the picture, Sitharaman said. She dismissed fears that there is any malafide intent of using such institutions to go after sections of private capital and

IREO group money laundering case: ED attaches assets worth over Rs 1,300 cr

The Enforcement Directorate has attached assets worth more than Rs 1,317 crore of real estate group IREO, its managing director and vice president Lalit Goyal and associated entities as part of a money laundering investigation. The attached properties include land, commercial spaces, plots, residential houses and bank accounts, the federal agency said in a statement issued on Saturday. The total value of these attached properties is Rs 1,317.30 crore. The ED took cognisance of at least 30 FIRs filed in various police stations located in Gurugram, Panchkula, Ludhiana and Delhi against the group, linked entities, its directors, key managerial persons and others, to file a money laundering case. The probe found, the agency said, that the accused allegedly "duped" innocent buyers by promising them to deliver flats, plots, commercial spaces etc.However, they neither delivered the projects nor returned their money. The directors of the company in connivance with others "siphoned off" mo

ED chargesheets against Rana Ayyub; says she used public funds for herself

The Enforcement Directorate has filed a charge sheet against journalist Rana Ayyub under the anti-money laundering law, alleging that she utilised publicly raised funds of Rs 2.69 crore for herself and also contravened the foreign contribution law. The federal agency filed its prosecution complaint against Ayyub before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Ghaziabad (Uttar Pradesh) on October 12. "Rana Ayyub launched three fundraiser charity campaigns on 'Ketto platform' starting from April, 2020 and collected funds totalling Rs 2,69,44,680," the ED said in a statement issued on Thursday. The campaigns, it said, were meant to raise funds for slum dwellers and farmers; relief work for Assam, Bihar and Maharashtra and help Ayyub and her team to help those impacted by COVID-19 in India. Probe found, the agency said, that the funds raised on the online platforms were received in the accounts of Ayyub's father and sister and subsequently transferred to her persona

ED conducts fresh raids at 35 locations in Delhi excise policy case

The ED on Friday launched fresh raids in connection with its money laundering investigation into alleged irregularities in the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy, official sources said. The searches are being carried out at about 35 locations in Delhi, Punjab and some places in Hyderabad, they said. Some liquor distributors, companies and linked entities are being searched, the sources said. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has conducted more than 103 raids in this case till now and had also arrested Sameer Mahandru, a liquor businessman and managing director of liquor manufacturing company Indospirit last month in the case. The money laundering case stems from a CBI FIR. The liquor scheme came under the scanner after the Delhi LG recommended a CBI probe into the alleged irregularities in the implementation of Delhi's Excise Policy 2021-22. He had also suspended 11 excise officials in the matter.

Credit Suisse's scandals, challenges: Spies, lies, and money laundering

Already wobbling under pressure from a declining stock price, the bank in October saw its credit default swaps surge to the highest level in two decades

Five Congress leaders to join ED's probe in National Herald case today

Five Congress leaders will appear before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to join the investigation in connection with a Prevention of Money Laundering case pertaining to the National Herald matter

Jacqueline Fernandez gets interim bail in Rs 200 cr money laundering case

A Delhi court on Monday granted interim bail to actor Jacqueline Fernandez in a Rs 200 crore money laundering case against alleged conman Sukesh Chandrashekar. Special Judge Shailendra Malik granted Fernandez the relief on a personal bond of Rs 50,000 and posted the matter for further hearing on October 22. On August 31, predecessor judge Praveen Singh had taken cognizance of a supplementary charge sheet filed by the Enforcement Directorate and asked Fernandez to appear before the court. Fernandez, who was summoned by the ED several times in connection with the investigation, has been named as an accused for the first time in the supplementary charge sheet. ED's earlier charge sheet and a supplementary charge sheet did not mention her as an accused. The documents, however, had mentioned the details of the statements recorded by Fernandez and fellow actor Nora Fatehi. According to ED, Fernandez and Fatehi, who were examined, had received luxury cars and other expensive gifts from .

ED freezes Rs 2,747 cr worth of assets of ABG Shipyard in bank fraud case

The ED case has been filed under various Sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after the investigators studied the CBI complaint and the forensic audit report

WBSSC scam: Partha Chatterjee, 3 others get judicial custody till Oct 5

A special CBI court here Wednesday rejected the bail prayer of former West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee and remanded him and three others to judicial custody till October 5 in connection with its probe in the SSC recruitment scam. The three others sent to judicial custody till the same date are former West Bengal Board of Secondary Education (WBBSE) president Kalyanmoy Ganguly, who was arrested by CBI on September 15, former secretary of West Bengal School Service Commission (SSC) Ashok Saha and its former advisor S P Sinha. The order was given by a CBI court a prayer by the central investigating agency. The special court had on September 16 given CBI the custody of Chatterjee till Wednesday on a prayer by the agency for questioning him in connection with the case, which it is investigating on an order of the Calcutta High Court. Chatterjee and his alleged close associate Arpita Mukherjee were arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which is probing the reported money tr

Delhi liquor policy: ED conducts fresh raids at 40 locations across India

The ED on Friday launched fresh raids at about 40 locations across the country, including at the Delhi residence of a YSRCP MP, as part of a money laundering investigation into alleged irregularities in the now scrapped Delhi Excise Policy, official sources said. The searches are being conducted at premises linked to liquor businessmen, distributors and supply chain networks in Nellore and some other cities in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Delhi-NCR, they said. The premises linked to YSRCP Lok Sabha MP from Ongole M Sreenivasulu Reddy in Delhi are also being searched, they said. Reddy has links with liquor distributorship business. He could not be contacted by PTI despite repeated attempts. The action started early morning with agency teams being escorted by police and paramilitary personnel at the locations being searched by them. This is the second round of raids by the federal agency in this case after it first conducted searches on September 6 at about

Chinese loan apps: ED freezes Rs 46 cr kept in payment gateway accounts

The ED Friday said it has frozen Rs 46.67 crore funds of merchant entities kept in online payment gateway accounts of Easebuzz, Razorpay, Cashfree and Paytm following raids this week against a "Chinese-controlled" investment token app. The funds have been frozen under the anti-money laundering law. The latest action comes after the Enforcement Directorate (ED), earlier this month, raided the Bengaluru premises of Razorpay, Paytm and Cashfree over alleged irregularities in the operations of instant app-based loan-giving companies "controlled" by Chinese persons. Later, a seizure order for Rs 17 crore kept in their accounts was issued. The latest searches were launched on September 14 at multiple premises of the accused in Delhi, Mumbai, Ghaziabad, Lucknow and Gaya in a money laundering case being probed against an app-based token called HPZ and related entities. Sixteen premises of banks and payment gateways in Delhi, Gurugram, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Jodhpur and .

School jobs scam: Ex-Bengal minister Partha's judicial remand extended

A special PMLA court here on Wednesday extended the judicial remand of former West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee till September 28 on a prayer by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which is probing alleged money trail in the school jobs scam. The Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court also extended the judicial remand of Chatterjee's alleged close aide, Arpita Mukherjee, for 14 days. Rejecting a bail prayer of the former minister, Judge Bidyut Baran Roy granted 14 days' judicial remand of Chatterjee and Mukherjee on a prayer by the ED till September 28. Opposing the bail prayer, ED counsel Phiroze Edulji claimed before the court that around Rs 100 crore have so far been recovered in the form of cash and assets of Mukherjee, the alleged associate of the former minister. Produced before the court through the virtual mode from Presidency Correctional Home here, Chatterjee prayed that he be granted bail. His lawyers were present before the judge physically. The judge grant

Pakistan 'lacks effectiveness' on four goals linked to FATF: Report

The Asia-Pacific Group of the FATF, a global watchdog for terror financing and money laundering, has rated Pakistan's level of effectiveness as low' on 10 out of 11 international goals on anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terror, a media report said on Tuesday. Asia-Pacific Group (APF), the Sydney-based regional affiliate of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), released an update as of September 2 on the rating of its regional members suggesting that Pakistan had a moderate level of effectiveness' on only one out of 11 outcomes, reported Dawn. Under this immediate outcome', Pakistan extends international cooperation on appropriate information, financial intelligence, and evidence and facilitates action against criminals and their assets. A 15-member joint delegation of FATF and APG paid an onsite visit to Pakistan from August 29 to September 2 to verify the country's compliance with a 34-point action plan committed with FATF at the highest level in June 2018, t

ED inquiry on CoinSwitch not linked to money laundering under PMLA: CEO

"Enforcement Directorate-Bengaluru has been engaged with us with respect to functioning of our crypto platforms/exchanges. We are fully cooperating with them," he said in a tweet thread.

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