Page 3 - Pmla

Bail is the rule, jail is exception, even under special laws like PMLA: SC

The Supreme Court reaffirmed that bail should be the norm even under stringent laws like the PMLA and UAPA, stressing that individual liberty remains paramount

ED files money laundering case to probe irregularities in R G Kar Hospital

The Enforcement Directorate has filed a money laundering case to probe alleged financial irregularities at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital during the tenure of its former principal Sandip Ghosh and some others, official sources said Tuesday. The federal agency has taken cognisance of a CBI FIR to file its Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR), equivalent to an FIR, under various sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The agency, according to the sources, has gathered banking and medical procurement documents related to this hospital and medical college from "various sources" and it may soon issue summons to the accused for questioning and recording of their statements, the sources said. The accused in the ED case are the same who have been named in the CBI complaint, they said. In its FIR registered on the directions of the Calcutta High Court, the CBI has booked Ghosh and three Kolkata-based private entities -- Ma Tara Traders of Madhya Jhorehat, .

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

ED arrests Amtek's Arvind Dham in Rs 25,000 crore bank 'fraud' case

The move follows searches conducted by the agency last month at around 35 locations in Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, and Nagpur as part of its money laundering probe

ED questions TV actors in 'unauthorised' fraud forex trading app case

The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday recorded the statement of two television actors here as part of a money laundering investigation linked to the operations of an "illegal" online forex trading platform that is alleged to have duped investors to the tune of Rs 500 crore, official sources said. The sources said actors Krystel Dsouza and Karan Wahi were called for questioning in order to elicit information about some payments being made for promotions of the app named OctaFx which also had a website -- www.octafx.com. The statements of the two have been recorded as the ED is investigating this case under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), they said. Another TV actor and model Nia Sharma has also been summoned, the sources said. It is understood that the agency wants to understand the operations of the platform and these actors may not be seen as wrongdoers or accused. The money laundering case of the ED stems from a Pune Police (Shivaji Nagar poli

Court reserves order on cognisance of ED charge sheet against Kejriwal

A Delhi court on Tuesday reserved for June 4 its order on whether to take cognisance of a supplementary charge sheet filed by the ED against Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the money laundering case linked to the alleged excise scam wherein it has claimed bribes were received even from Punjab businessmen to allow them to invest in liquor trade in the national capital. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has claimed those businessmen from Punjab, also ruled by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), who did not pay up, were forced out of their ventures in the neighbouring state. Special Judge Kaveri Baweja reserved the order after hearing the arguments advanced by the ED, which claimed it has sufficient evidence to prosecute Kejriwal in the case. The ED has also named AAP as an accused in the charge sheet, the first political party to be booked under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The federal anti-money laundering agency told the court that Kejriwal, the national convenor of AAP,

Court extends ED remand of Jharkhand minister Alamgir Alam for 3 more days

A special PMLA court in Ranchi on Monday extended Jharkhand minister Alamgir Alam's remand with the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for three more days in connection with an alleged money laundering case, his legal representatives said. Alam had been taken into custody by the ED on May 15 following two days of interrogation at the agency's office. Initially remanded for six days by the PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) court starting May 17, his remand was subsequently extended for five days on May 22. Alam's lawyer, Kishlay Prasad, said that the ED prayed for a three-day extension of remand for further inquiry, which was granted by the court. "The ED indicated the necessity for additional inquiries and the requirement for details regarding immovable properties," Prasad elaborated. Alam, who serves as the state parliamentary affairs minister and represents the Pakur seat in the Jharkhand Assembly, is under investigation for alleged irregularities and bribery in the state rural

ED arrests J'khand minister's secy, latter's domestic help after cash haul

The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday arrested Jharkhand minister Alamgir Alam's personal secretary Sanjiv Lal and the latter's domestic help following a recovery of over Rs 32 crore cash from them, official sources said. The duo have been taken into custody under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) following their overnight questioning, the sources said. The ED on Monday had raided a 2BHK flat in the city that is allegedly occupied by Lal's domestic help Jehangir, as part of a money laundering investigation into alleged irregularities in the state rural development department, they said. It had recovered over Rs 32 crore cash apart from Rs 3 crore from some other premises that were searched by the central agency. The total cash recovery stands at Rs 35.23 crore, the sources said. Jharkhand rural development minister and Congress leader Alam had denied any wrongdoing on his part.

FIU notifies fresh terror financing reporting alerts for capital markets

A fresh set of 'alert indicators' have been issued by India's financial intelligence unit (FIU) for capital markets, insurance companies, online payment gateway intermediaries and crypto currency service providers for effective checking of suspicious transactions in their channels as part of the anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing regime. These new guidelines have been issued under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) during the 2022-23 financial year and published in a recently released report that has been accessed by PTI. This is part of the anti-money laundering (AML) and combating the financing of terrorism (CFT) regime followed by the country as part of which financial institutions and intermediaries are mandated to share suspicious transaction reports (STRs) with the FIU which subsequently analyses them and shares them for action with various investigative and intelligence agencies. FIU proactively engages with the financial sector

PMLA court grants one more week to ED for reply on Hemant Soren's bail plea

A special PMLA court on Tuesday granted one more week to the Enforcement Directorate to reply to the bail petition of former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren. The court also fixed May 1 as the next date of hearing in the matter. Soren was arrested by the ED on January 31 in connection with a money laundering case linked to an alleged land scam. He is at present in judicial custody and lodged at the Birsa Munda Central Jail in Ranchi. The ED had sought another two weeks to file a reply to Soren's bail petition, which was opposed by the former CM's cousels, who claimed that the probe agency wanted to deliberately delay the bail so that he could not come out of jail and campaign. Soren was represented virtually by senior lawyers Kapil Sibal and Arunabh Chowdhury. The PMLA court granted only one week to the ED and directed no further adjournments. Soren had on April 16 moved a bail petition before the special court, alleging that his arrest by the ED was politically motivated, a

PMLA Authority upholds ED's 2023 attachment of assets of National Herald

The authority said in its order that it believes that the movable assets and equity shares that were attached by the ED are proceeds of crime and linked to the offence of money laundering

Kavitha's nephew involved in transfer of illicit funds in liquor scam: ED

In what could further mount trouble for former Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao's family, the Enforcement Directorate on Saturday alleged that a nephew of BRS leader K Kavitha was "involved" in the transfer of illicit funds or the proceeds of crime in the Delhi excise policy-linked money laundering case. The central agency informed the special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court of Judge Kaweri Baweja in Delhi that it conducted searches at the premises of the said relative, Meka Sri Saran, on Saturday after his role in this case came to the fore during the questioning of Kavitha over the last week. Kavitha, the 46-year-old MLC daughter of former Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekhar Rao, was arrested by the ED on March 15 and she was produced before the court for extension of her custody on Saturday. The court sent her to agency's custody till March 26. The politician told reporters during her production in court that "this was a fraud and wrong case...we

Paytm PB failed to use mechanism for detecting suspicious transactions: FIU

Paytm Payments Bank failed to put in place an internal mechanism to "detect and report" suspicious transactions as stipulated under the anti-money laundering law and was unsuccessful in conducting due diligence of its payout service, the FIU said in its order that imposed a fine of Rs 5.49 crore on the digital entity. The federal financial intelligence gathering and dissemination agency said in its March 1 order that these charges against the bank, a registered reporting entity with the FIU under the PMLA, were "substantiated" after more than four years of investigation and a show cause notice that was issued against it on February 14, 2022. After the Union finance ministry issued a press statement on the FIU action, a Paytm Payments Bank spokesperson had said that the penalty pertains to issues within a business segment that was discontinued two years ago. "Following that period, we have enhanced our monitoring systems and reporting mechanisms to the Financial Intelligence Unit ...

Salman Khurshid's wife, 2 others laundered govt funds, alleges ED

The Enforcement Directorate on Monday alleged that senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid's wife Louise Khurshid and two others "laundered" Rs 71.50 lakh in central government funds for their personal gain. The federal agency said in a statement that its has provisionally attached 15 agricultural land parcels located in the Farrukhabad district of Uttar Pradesh and some bank deposits, worth a combined Rs 45.92 lakh, of the Dr Zakir Hussain Memorial Trust, under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). A probe found that "grant-in-aid of Rs 71.50 lakh received by the trust was not utilised for holding camps sanctioned by the Government of India but was laundered by Pratyush Shukla, a representative of the trust, Mohammad Athar, secretary to the trust, and Louise Khurshid, project director of the trust, for the interest of the trust and their personal gain", the Enforcement Directorate (ED) claimed. In this way, the fund received as grant-in-aid was laundered for .

'No FEMA violations': Hiranandani Group on ED searches at Mumbai office

Hiranandani Group said that the inquiry was related to a 15-year-old matter and it took time to find old records

ED issues seventh summons to Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal in excise policy case

While issuing the summons, ED has also rejected Kejriwal's contention that the agency should wait for the court's decision instead of repeatedly sending summonses

ED files prosecution complaint against Tower Infotech, its MD, under PMLA

The complaint was filed before the Honorable Special Judge, CBI, Court No 1, City Session Court, Kolkata on February 3

PMLA court remands ex-CM Soren to judicial custody in money laundering case

A special PMLA court on Thursday remanded former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren to judicial custody in connection with a money laundering case linked to an alleged land scam. The ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha executive president was in the ED custody. "Hemant Soren was produced before the special PMLA court today and he was remanded to judicial custody till February 22. We will file a bail application for him," said Advocate General Rajeev Ranjan, who appeared for the former chief minister. Soren was taken to Birsa Munda Central Jail at Hotwar in Ranchi from the court. He was arrested on January 31 by the ED. On February 2, the court granted five days of ED custody to Soren and extended it twice for seven days in total.

PMLA court extends ED custody of former CM Hemant Soren by 5 days

A special PMLA court on Wednesday extended the Enforcement Directorate (ED) remand of former chief minister Hemant Soren by five days in a money laundering case linked to an alleged land scam, lawyers said. Soren, JMM executive president, on February 2 was remanded to five days' ED custody by the special PMLA (The Prevention of Money Laundering Act) court which ended on Wednesday. "The ED had prayed for seven days of remand which we objected saying no further remand is required because he has already been interrogated for eight hours on January 20 and another eight hours on January 31," Advocate General Rajeev Ranjan, who appeared for Soren, told reporters. Apart from that, he has already been interrogated for 120 hours in five days. "So, there is no need for any further remand. But they have tried to expand this scope of investigation beyond the predicate offence matter. We have been saying that they (ED) have no power and jurisdiction to investigate anything beyond the predicate

ED asks J'khand CM Soren to record statement in PMLA case again this week

The Enforcement Directorate has issued a fresh summons to Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren and asked him to again record his statement in a money laundering case between January 27 and 31, official sources said on Monday. The central agency recorded his statement for the first time in the case on January 20 after investigators went to his official residence here. They recorded his statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) during the about seven hours they spent at his home. Soren has been asked to join the investigation again between January 27 and 31, and a Enforcement Directorate team will go to his residence like the last time, the sources said. The recording of statement did not finish that day (January 20), and hence, the chief minister has been asked to join the probe again, they said. The agency is understood to have put about 25-30 questions to Soren during the last week questioning in the money laundering case linked to alleged instances of illega