Page 3 - Money Laundering

Google officials depose before ED in online betting linked PMLA case

Representatives of Google on Monday deposed before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) as part of a money laundering probe linked to the promotion of "illegal" online betting and gambling platforms, official sources said. Executives from Meta did not depose, they said. The ED had called the officials of the two tech giants, first on July 21 and later extended their deposition to July 28 as they sought more time to appear. The agency may also record the statement of a designated "compliance officer" of Google under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) apart from obtaining some documents from the company on Monday, the sources said. A Google spokesperson had last week told PTI in a statement that the company was "committed to keeping our platforms safe and secure, prohibiting the promotion of illegal gambling ads." "We are extending our full support and cooperation to investigating agencies to hold bad actors responsible and keep users safe," the spokesperson had said. There

Cash discovery row: SC questions Justice Yashwant Varma over his petition

The Supreme Court on Monday questioned Justice Yashwant Varma over his plea to invalidate an in-house inquiry panel report indicting him over the discovery of huge cache of burnt cash from his official residence during his tenure as a Delhi High Court judge. "Why did you appear before the inquiry committee? Did you come to the court that the video be removed? Why did you wait for the inquiry to be completed and the report be released? Did you take a chance of a favourable order there first," a bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and A G Masih asked senior advocate Kapil Sibal, who was representing Justice Varma. The top court further quizzed Justice Varma over the parties he had made in his plea and said he should have filed the in-house inquiry report with his plea. Sibal submitted there was a process under Article 124 (the Establishment and constitution of the Supreme Court), and a judge couldn't be a subject matter of public debate. "The release of video on SC website, public furor

Ghaziabad man who ran fake embassy visited 40 nations in 10 yrs: UP Police

UP Police say Harsh Vardhan Jain held 12 diplomatic passports and visited over 40 countries, running shell firms from Ghaziabad

ED attaches ₹106.36 cr assets of ex-UCO Bank CMD in bank fraud case

Subodh Kumar Goel faces charges of sanctioning loans that later became NPAs, with investigations linking his actions to a large-scale money laundering scheme

Bank fraud case: Court orders auction of sports academy, land of ex-MLA

A special anti-money laundering court has ordered the auction of properties linked to former MLA Vivekanand Shankar Patil to facilitate repayment to creditors of a cooperative bank based in Panvel in Maharashtra's Raigad district. The properties, comprising a multi-acre sports academy and a land parcel in Panvel, have been attached by probe agencies in an alleged fraud of over Rs 512 crore at the Karnala Nagari Sahakari (cooperative) Bank. Patil, the prime accused in the case, represented Panvel as a Peasants and Workers Party of India MLA for three terms and was a legislator from Uran once. A total of 87 properties, including some ancestral assets of Patil, were attached under the MPID Act, or the Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors (in Financial Establishments) Act, by Navi Mumbai police's Economic Offences Wing. The Enforcement Directorate (ED), which is also probing a money laundering case linked to the fraud, has dual attachment to some of these properties. Speci

ED conducts searches at 6 locations in Hyderabad in bank-fraud case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has conducted searches at six locations in Hyderabad in connection with a bank-fraud case against the promoters and directors of a company and its associate entities. The ED initiated its investigation on the basis of an FIR registered by the Anti-Corruption Bureau of the CBI in Hyderabad against SEW LSY Highways Limited and others under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act for allegedly siphoning off and diverting loan funds, cheating and criminal misconduct, resulting in the loss of public money, the agency said in a statement. The federal agency's Hyderabad zonal office conducted search operations on Tuesday at six locations in Hyderabad under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in connection with a bank-fraud case against SEW Infrastructure Limited (SIL), Prasad and Company (Project Works) Private Limited (PSPWPL), group companies and their promoters and directors, the statement

ED files plaint against fintech firm SIMPL for FDI policy violation

The ED accused Buy Now Pay Later app SIMPL of breaching FDI norms by issuing convertible notes and receiving foreign investment under automatic route without approval

HC seeks ED reply on Aslam Wani's plea to quash money laundering case

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday sought Enforcement Directorate's (ED) response on a plea of Mohammad Aslam Wani, an alleged hawala dealer, seeking quashing of a money laundering case against him. Justice Sanjeev Narula issued notice to the ED for its response and posted the hearing on September 26. Wani sought quashing of the PMLA case arguing a 2010 trial court judgement clearing him of terror funding charges in a 2005 case, based on which the money laundering case was lodged in 2007. He said the verdict was upheld by the Delhi High Court in October 2017. Advocate M S Khan said his client Wani was cleared of all offences except under the Arms Act for possessing arms. "Consequently, the allegations by the prosecution regarding the generation of proceeds of crime from criminal activities related to the scheduled offence do not hold water. This perfectly aligns with the legal principle that if the underlying scheduled offence does not stand, the related proceedings under the ...

HKMA penalises IOB's Hong Kong branch for breaching AML regulations

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority imposes a penalty on Indian Overseas Bank's Hong Kong branch for violating anti-money laundering regulations from May 2021 to January 2024

Delhi Court convicts former Nalco CMD Srivastava for money laundering

A Delhi court convicts former NALCO CMD Abhay Kumar Srivastava and others for money laundering under the PMLA in a case involving bribery linked to coal procurement

Betting app case: ED summons Rana Daggubati, Vijay Deverakonda & others

ED has summoned Rana Daggubati, Vijay Deverakonda, and Prakash Raj in a money laundering probe linked to illegal betting app promotions. The case involves 29 actors, influencers, and YouTubers

SC protects Shreyas Talpade from arrest in Haryana marketing scam case

The Supreme Court on Monday granted protection from arrest to actor Shreyas Talpade in a case of cheating and breach of trust against a society. A bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and K V Viswanathan issued notice to Haryana Police and others on the actor's plea. Thirteen people, including actors and brand ambassadors Talpade and Alok Nath, were booked ont he complaint of 37-year-old Sonipat resident Vipul Antil. Antil alleged both the actors "promoted the Human Welfare Credit Cooperative Society Ltd, as brand ambassadors". Additional Commissioner of Police, Murthal, Sonipat, Ajeet Singh said the complaint was against a multi-marketing company under investigated. About the two actors, the ACP had said, "It has been alleged that they were its brand ambassadors and victims get lured to invest because of such personalities. They were named in the complaint. An FIR has been registered. Now, it will be investigated what was their role." The FIR was registered on January 22 under Secti

SC refuses urgent hearing on plea for FIR against Justice Varma in cash row

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to list for urgent hearing a plea seeking the registration of an FIR against the Allahabad High Court's Justice Yashwant Varma in connection with the cash discovery row. A bench comprising Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran was urged by lawyer Mathews Nedumpara that it was his third petition on the issue, and it be listed for hearing urgently. "Do you want it to be dismissed right now?" the CJI asked, adding that it will be listed in due course. "It is impossible to be dismissed. An FIR has to be registered. Now Varma seems to be asking for that only. There has to be an FIR, an investigation," the lawyer said. The bench took strong note of the fact that the lawyer addressed the high court judge as Varma'. "Is he your friend? He is still Justice Verma. How do you address him? Have some decorum. You are referring to a learned judge. He is still a judge of the court," the CJI said. "I don't think that greatness can apply to him.

ED not a drone to attack at will on any criminal activity, says Madras HC

ED not a drone to attack at will on any criminal activity: Madras HC

ED raids Bhupesh Baghel's house in connection with case against son

The Enforcement Directorate on Friday launched fresh raids at the premises of former Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel's son Chaitanya Baghel in connection with a money laundering probe against him linked to an alleged liquor scam, officials said. Chaitanya Baghel's house in Bhilai town, which he shares with his father, is being searched by the ED under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) based on receipt of fresh evidence in the case, they said. The federal probe agency conducted similar raids against Chaitanya Baghel in March this year. Bhupesh Baghel, a senior Congress leader, also posted a message on X saying the ED has reached his Bhilai residence on the last day of the assembly session. The ED earlier said Chaitanya Baghel was suspected to be the "recipient" of the proceeds of crime of the alleged liquor scam. It has said the Chhattisgarh liquor "scam" resulted in a "massive loss" to the state exchequer and filled the pockets of the beneficiaries of a liqu

ED raids in UP, Mumbai in conversion racket case linked to Chhangur Baba

The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday raided multiple locations in Uttar Pradesh and Mumbai as part of a money laundering investigation into an alleged religious conversion racket linked to 'Chhangur baba', officials said. At least 14 premises, including 12 in Balrampur district and two in Mumbai, are being searched under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), they said. The raids were launched around 5 am, along with a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) team, which was there to provide security cover to the ED officials. The federal probe agency recently filed a case to probe the activities and financial details of Jalaluddin alias Chhangur Baba, alleged to be a mastermind of an illegal religious conversion racket operating in Uttar Pradesh. Jalaluddin hails from Balrampur district, and his real name is Karimulla Shah. Jalaluddin, his son Mehboob and associates Naveen alias Jamaluddin and Neetu alias Nasreen were arrested by the UP Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) recently,

ED arrests two people in money-laundering case against Sahara Group

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Sunday said it has arrested two persons, an executive director of Sahara Group chairman's core management team and a long-time associate of the group cum property broker, as part of a money-laundering probe against the Sahara Group and its linked entities. The individuals taken into custody have been identified as Vailaparampil Abraham and Jitendra Prasad Verma, respectively. Abraham played a "key role" in coordinating and facilitating the sale of Sahara Group properties, many of which involved "substantial unaccounted" cash components that were allegedly siphoned off. Verma was "actively involved" in executing several of these property transactions and knowingly assisted in routing large "cash" proceeds generated from these sale transactions, thereby contributing to the concealment and dissipation of the "proceeds of crime", the central agency said in a statement. The ED said it came across "incriminating" evidence, during searches conducted in .

New special PMLA courts to expedite money laundering trials, says ED

The Enforcement Directorate on Sunday said it will be able to "significantly accelerate" trials in money laundering cases with the recent notification of special PMLA courts in various states. "In Telangana, a total of 16 special courts have now been notified, including two for Visakhapatnam. In Rajasthan, the number of such courts has been increased from one (earlier only at Jaipur) to five, including one for Jodhpur," the federal probe agency said in a statement. In Goa, it said, an exclusive special court to initiate trials in criminal cases registered and probed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) has been notified in North Goa. Till now, there was only one such special court for Goa, the ED said. The courts have been notified in those states where the number of such judicial forums were "inadequate" leading to "delays" in trial proceedings, according to the ED. "With the addition of these special courts, the Directorate (ED) will be able to significantly ...

FATF urges increased due diligence for Myanmar amid high-risk status

FATF has recommended enhanced due diligence measures for risks arising from Myanmar, maintaining its status as a high-risk jurisdiction. The RBI has issued the advisory based on FATF's guidelines

ED raids Haryana firm linked to illegal betting, freezes ₹284 crore assets

ED has frozen ₹284 crore worth of deposits and shares of Haryana-based Probo Media Technologies in a money laundering probe linked to illegal online betting and gambling through its app and website