Page 8 - Money Laundering

FATF praises India's PMLA, terror financing; asks to improve prosecution

Global anti-money laundering and terror financing body FATF on Thursday launched its much-awaited mutual evaluation report on India, saying the county's systems were "effective" but "major improvements" were required to strengthen prosecution in these cases. The 368-page report was released after the assessment was adopted by the Paris-headquartered body at its June plenary meeting. The last such review of India's combating of money laundering and terror financing regime was published in 2010. The report, which comes after an on-site visit of FATF experts to India last November, has placed the country in the "regular follow up" category, a distinction shared by only four other G20 countries. India will undergo its next evaluation in 2031. The report said India implemented such an anti-money laundering (AML) and combating financing of terror (CFT) system that was effective in many respects. It, however, said "major improvements" were required to strengthen the prosecution in money

Delhi Court discharges Ambience Group promoter Raj Singh Gehlot in ED case

Raj Singh Gehlot, promoter of the Ambience Group, was arrested on July 28, 2021, in connection with the money laundering case related to alleged bank loan fraud

Govt pitches for more disclosures on cross-border payments with FATF

India is pitching for greater disclosures by fintech firms, credit card companies and payment aggregators (PAs) at the Financial Action Task Force whereby the sender and recipient in a cross-border financial transaction can be identified and shared with law enforcement agencies as and when sought. Currently, the Travel Rules of Financial Action Task Force (FATF) under which data relating to name of sender and recipient and the country of origin is recorded in any cross-border financial transactions. The policy development group (PDG) of the FATF is now deliberating on whether the required information is clearly available to law enforcement agencies or does the information gets masked in any form. Masking of information leads to delay in information sharing by financial institutions involved in cross-border transactions with law enforcement agencies. "The debate is whether the standards need to be tweaked further so that information can be clearly provided in case of cross-border wir

Crime watchdog FATF to release mutual evaluation report of India on Sep 19

Global crime watchdog FATF will highlight the steps taken by India to counter terror financing and money laundering, and flag priority action areas in the 'mutual evaluation report' to be released on September 19, official sources said on Tuesday. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) had in June adopted the mutual evaluation report on India and placed the country in the "regular follow-up" category -- the highest rating given by the global watchdog and a distinction shared by only four other G20 countries. Countries rated under the 'regular follow-up category' are required to submit a follow-up report to the FATF once in three years on a voluntary basis. Out of 40 parameters looked into by the FATF, India received the highest rating in 37 parameters, official sources said. "Priority action points will be given by the FATF in the September 19 report," sources said, adding that on most of the parameters, India would be getting a positive rating in the report, while there would be f

Kejriwal party to criminal conspiracy in excise case, says CBI; AAP refutes

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was "party to the criminal conspiracy" of the formulation and implementation of the Delhi Excise Policy since the beginning, the CBI has alleged in its latest supplementary charge sheet in the case. Concluding its probe with the submission of the fifth and final charge sheet in the case, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has alleged that Kejriwal already had a "pre-conceived idea of privatising" the excise policy, which was scrapped after allegations of corruption surfaced. "He (Kejriwal) demanded monetary support for his party AAP in the month of March 2021, when the policy was being formulated by the GoM headed by the co-accused Manish Sisodia. "His close associate and in-charge of media and communication of AAP (and) accused Vijay Nair was approaching different stakeholders of the Delhi excise business and demanding illegal gratification from them in lieu of a favourable excise policy," the agency has alleged. The AAP has denied the ...

Court to rule on summoning Lalu, Tejashwi in money laundering case today

On July 6, the Rouse Avenue court granted time and directed that ED shall file additional/ concluding charge sheet

ED raids houses of RG Kar's ex-principal Ghosh, aides over irregularities

ED had registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to probe money laundering charges against Sandip Ghosh

Excise policy scam: SC begins hearing Kejriwal's plea against CBI arrest

The Supreme Court on Thursday commenced hearing on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's pleas seeking bail and challenging his arrest by the CBI in the alleged excise policy scam. Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for the chief minister, told a bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan that Kejriwal was not named in the CBI FIR and moreover, he is not a flight risk. Singhvi said the top court, while granting interim bail in the money laundering case, had said the chief minister was not a threat to society. What started in August, 2023 has led to arrest in March this year in the money laundering case, he said, adding the top court and a trial court have already granted him bail. The hearing is underway. The top court had on August 23 allowed the CBI to file its counter affidavit in the matter and gave two days to Kejriwal to file a rejoinder. Kejriwal has filed two separate petitions challenging the denial of bail and against his arrest by the CBI in the case. He h

SC defers hearing review petition challenging PMLA provisions till Sep 18

A bench of justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan adjourned the matter for September 18. The matter was adjourned as one of the judges of the three-judge bench was not sitting today

SC defers hearing review petition challenging PMLA provisions to Sept 18

The court was hearing the review petition challenging of top court's judgement upholding the provision of PMLA

AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan says ED team reached his house to arrest him

Senior AAP leader and MLA Amanatullah Khan on Monday claimed that a team of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has reached his house here to arrest him. Sources said the ED team reached his house in Okhla as part of a money laundering investigation. Delhi Police and Central Reserve Police Force teams have been deployed at Khan's residence In a post on X, Khan said, "A ED team has reached my house to arrest me." "Early this morning, at the behest of the dictator, his puppet ED reached my house. The dictator is leaving no stone unturned to harass me and other AAP leader," said Khan, who represents Okhla in the Delhi Assembly. Several Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders, including Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh, hit out at the BJP government at the Centre, saying agencies are targeting those who raised their voice against the ruling party. In a video on X, Khan also said he has been replying to all the notices being sent by the agency. But a team is here to arrest him on a search warrant,

ED attaches Rs 834 cr land of Emaar India, MGF Developments under PMLA

The attached properties, spanning 401.65 acres in Gurugram and Delhi, are linked to an ongoing investigation into fraudulent land acquisitions

SBI manager, gym trainer held in Rs 175 cr cyber fraud case in Telangana

Fraud uncovered after numerous complaints on the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal

SC grants bail to BRS Leader K Kavitha in Delhi liquor policy case

Bharat Rashtra Samithi leader secures bail from Supreme Court after five months in custody

SC adjourns hearing on Vijay Nair's bail plea in Delhi excise policy scam

The Supreme Court on Tuesday adjourned hearing on the bail plea of former Aam Aadmi Party communication in-charge Vijay Nair in a money laundering case related to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam. A bench of justices Hrishikesh Roy and SVN Bhatti deferred the matter after the counsel for the ED sought a weeks' time for filing a counter affidavit. "Reluctantly, time prayed for is granted," the bench said. The top court had issued notice to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on August 12 on the plea of Nair while noting that he has been in custody for two years. Appearing for Nair, senior advocates Abhishek Singhvi and Vikram Chaudhary submitted before the court on August 12 that he was arrested on November 13, 2022, and he has challenged the trial court's July 29 order dismissing his default bail plea. Earlier, on July 3 last year, the high court refused to grant bail to Nair and other co-accused in the money laundering case. The money laundering case stems from a Central Bureau

Excise Policy case: HC extends interim bail of Amit Arora till Aug 30

Arora had filed a regular bail application seeking relief under the provison to Section 45 of the PMLA as his bail is set to expire on August 21

SC to hear K Kavitha's bail pleas in Excise policy case on Tuesday

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Tuesday BRS leader K Kavitha's pleas seeking bail in corruption and money laundering cases linked to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam. The apex court had on August 12 sought responses from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Kavitha's pleas challenging the Delhi High Court's July 1 verdict denying her bail in these cases. As per the cause list of August 20 uploaded on the top court website, a bench of justices B R Gavai and K V Viswanathan is slated to hear her pleas. During the arguments on August 12, Kavitha's counsel had sought bail contending that she has been in custody for around five months and the charge sheet and prosecution complaint have already been filed by the CBI and the ED respectively. A prosecution complaint is the ED's equivalent of a charge sheet. Her lawyer had referred to the apex court's verdicts on the pleas filed by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Aam Aadmi Par

Bank fraud: ED attaches Rs 678 cr worth land assets of Avantha Group

Land assets worth more than Rs 678 crore of the Avantha Group have been attached under the anti-money laundering law as part of an alleged bank loan fraud linked probe, the Enforcement Directorate said Thursday. A provisional order under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) has been issued to attach the properties located in Haryana, Maharashtra and Uttarakhand. The assets belong to various group companies of Avantha Group, "owned and controlled" by businessman Gautam Thapar. "On 19.08.2019, CG Power and Industrial Solutions Ltd had made disclosure under Regulation 30 of the SEBI (listing obligations and disclosure requirements) Regulations, 2015 to Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange regarding findings which had potential implications on the financial position of the company. "The disclosure made by CG Power and Industrial Solutions Ltd. revealed that assets and liabilities of the company have been understated considerably," the ED said in a statement. It w

ED summons Dabur's Mohit Burman, others in Religare money laundering probe

Religare open offer case: Dabur Chairman Mohit Burman, three independent directors of Care Health Insurance and the manager of the open offer have been summoned by the Enforcement Directorate

ED starts restitution of flats worth Rs 20 cr to cheated Gurugram buyers

The Enforcement Directorate has initiated the process of restitution of flats worth more than Rs 20 crore to homebuyers of a Gurugram realty project who were allegedly cheated by the builder company, official sources said Wednesday. The case pertains to flats constructed by the SRS Group as part of projects like SRS Pearl, SRS City and SRS Prime. The process to restitute 78 flats of genuine homebuyers in these SRS projects has been initiated following the Appellate Tribunal, instituted under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), issuing an order on August 12 allowing the ED to return these flats worth a total Rs 20.15 crore to their rightful claimants. The central agency in January 2020 had provisionally attached assets worth Rs 2,215 crore as part of a money laundering investigation against the SRS Group of companies in a case related to alleged fraud committed against a number of homebuyers and investors. It was alleged by the ED that the SRS group of companies received