Page 3 - Money Laundering

Actor Rana Daggubati appears before ED in online betting linked PMLA case

Actor Rana Daggubati on Monday appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) here in connection with a money laundering case involving illegal online betting and gambling by certain platforms. The federal agency has issued summons to four actors--Prakash Raj, Vijay Deverakonda, Rana Daggubati and Lakshmi Manchu-- last month, asking them to appear on different dates at the agency's zonal office here for questioning in the case. Raj and Deverakonda earlier appeared. The actors had "endorsed" online betting apps allegedly involved in generating "illicit" funds, according to official sources. During their appearance, the agency is expected to record the statements of the actors under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The ED had taken cognisance of as many as five state police FIRs to register its case against these actors and a number of other celebrities and social media influencers. These individuals are suspected to have "endorsed" online betting a

ED recovered ₹23K cr laundered money, distributed it to victims: SG to SC

The Enforcement Directorate has recovered around Rs 23,000 crore laundered money and distributed it to the victims of financial crimes, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the Supreme Court on Thursday. The statement was made by the top law officer before a special bench comprising Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma during the open court hearing on a batch of pleas seeking review of the controversial May 2 judgement of the apex court. The apex court had on May 2 ordered liquidation of Bhushan Power & Steel Limited (BPSL) while setting aside a resolution plan of JSW Steel Limited for the ailing firm. The CJI-led bench on July 31 recalled the verdict and decided to hear afresh the review pleas in the high stake matter. During the hearing on the review pleas, a lawyer referred to the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) probe in the BPSL case as well. Here also ED is there, the CJI quipped. In response, the solicitor general said, Let me tell a fact, which was never

ED raids in Lucknow in money laundering case against ex-UP Invest CEO

The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday conducted searches here in connection with a money laundering case against suspended IAS officer and former Invest Uttar Pradesh CEO Abhishek Prakash, official sources said. Four premises linked to alleged middleman Nikant Jain, who allegedly asked for a bribe on behalf of Prakash, are being searched in the city under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), they said. Apart from Jain's house, two premises registered as offices of companies related to him and his family members are being searched. The fourth is a hotel where his family members are common directors, they said. Jain was arrested earlier by Uttar Pradesh Police. Prakash, a 2006-batch IAS officer, was suspended in March this year by the Uttar Pradesh government after an investor in the solar industry lodged a complaint alleging that Jain demanded a commission to facilitate approvals for projects.

ED summons Reliance Group Chairman Anil Ambani in bank loan fraud case

Anil Ambani has been summoned by the Enforcement Directorate on August 5 for questioning in a money laundering case tied to alleged fraud involving bank loans worth crores of rupees

ED summons Anil Ambani in ₹10,000 crore loan diversion probe after raids

Enforcement Directorate (ED) summons Reliance Group Chairman Anil Ambani over alleged ₹10,000 cr loan fraud; probe reveals fund diversion, shell firms, Yes Bank link

ED's first-ever raids in Andaman & Nicobar linked to cooperative bank fraud

The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday conducted its first-ever searches in Andaman and Nicobar Islands as part of a money laundering case probe linked to an alleged cooperative bank loan 'fraud' involving a former MP from the Union Territory, official sources said. The case pertains to the Andaman Nicobar State Cooperative Bank (ANSCB) and its vice chairman Kuldeep Rai Sharma. Sharma, a 57-year-old Congress leader, is a former MP of the UT (2019-24). Nine places in and around Port Blair and two in Kolkata were raided by the officials of the central probe agency under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the sources said. This is the first time that the agency has undertaken searches in the Union Territory located in the Bay of Bengal, they said. Sources said the agency has recovered some documents pointing towards "large-scale" irregularities in the grant of loans and overdraft facilities by ANSC Bank. The role of former Congress MP Sharma is also under the scanner of

Cricket stadium needed to conduct trial involving Senthil Balaji: SC

The Supreme Court on Wednesday pulled up the Tamil Nadu government for implicating more than 2000 persons in cash-for-jobs scam cases involving ex-minister V Senthil Balaji, and sought the details of all the accused and witnesses. Terming the trial in cases involving ex-minister as "rudderless ship", a bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi said that had there not been judicial intervention, the "reluctant state" wanted to give a decent burial of cases involving ex-minister Senthil Balaji in the cash-for-job scam case. "With over 2000 accused and 500 witnesses it will be the most populated trial of India. A small courtroom of the trial court will not suffice and a cricket stadium will be needed to even mark the presence of the accused. Several Artificial Intelligence-generated accused will pop up to mark their presence," the bench told senior advocate Gopal Sankaranaryanan, appearing for Y Balaji, representing victims of the scam and opposing the decision for clubbing of th

Actor Prakash Raj appears before ED in online betting linked to PMLA case

Actor Prakash Raj on Wednesday appeared before the ED officials here for questioning in a money laundering case linked to illegal online betting and gambling by certain platforms. The actor, mainly popular in Telugu, Kannada and other South Indian films, appeared before the officials of the probe agency at its zonal office here. Besides Raj, the ED had also summoned actors Rana Daggubati, Vijay Deverakonda and Lakshmi Manchu for questioning in the case. The agency asked Daggubati (40) to appear before the zonal office here on July 23, Raj (60) on July 30, Deverakonda (36) on August 6 and Lakshmi (47) on August 13. The actors had "endorsed" online betting apps allegedly involved in generating "illicit" funds, official sources had said. However, the ED gave a fresh date of August 11 to actor Daggubati after he failed to appear on July 23, seeking deferment of the summons. During their appearance, the agency is expected to record the statements of the actors under the provisions of

ED raids 18 places in Chhattisgarh in ₹500 crore medical supply scam probe

The ED is investigating suspected violations under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act

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