Rs 936 cr related to crypto currency attached or seized by ED: Govt
Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 06 Feb, 2023 11:50 AM
New Delhi, Feb 6 (IANS) Nearly Rs 936 crore related to crypto currency has been attached or seized by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) under PMLA, Union Minister of State for Finance, Pankaj Chaudhary said on Monday.
Besides, five persons have been arrested and six prosecution complaints (PCs) including one supplementary PC have been filed before the Special Court, PMLA in these cases, he stated.
Chaudhary in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha on Monday said that crypto assets are by definition borderless and require international collaboration to prevent regulatory arbitrage.
Under Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (FEMA), assets amounting to Rs 289.28 crore have been seized under section 37A of FEMA and one show-cause notice to crypto currency exchange Zanmai Labs Pvt Ltd, known as WazirX and its directors under FEMA for transactions involving cryptocurrencies work Rs 2,790 crore has also been issued.
Therefore, the Minister said, any legislation for regulation or for banning can be effective only with significant international collaboration on evaluation of the risks and benefits and evolution of common taxonomy and standards.
The Minister stated that the ED is investigating several cases related to crypto currency frauds wherein a few crypto exchanges have also been found involved in money laundering. Necessary action as per provisions of Prevention of Monyy Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) has been taken by the ED.
"As on January 31, 2023, proceeds of crime amounting to Rs 936 crore have been attached/seized/freezed, 5 persons have been arrested and 6 prosecution complaints (PCs) including 1 supplementary PC have been filed before the Special Court, PMLA in these cases," said the reply.
Giving more information, the Minister said that RBI has been cautioning users, holders and traders of Virtual Currencies (VCs) vide public notices on December 24, 2013, February 1, 2017 and December 5, 2017 that dealing in VCs is associated with potential economic, financial, operational, legal, customer protection and security related risks.
RBI, vide its circular dated May 31, 2021 has also advised its regulated entities to continue to carry out customer due diligence processes for transactions in VCs, in line with regulations governing standards for Know Your Customer (KYC), Anti-Money Laundering (AML), Combating of Financing of Terrorism (CFT), obligations under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, etc in addition to ensuring compliance with relevant provisions under Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) for overseas remittances, the Minister added.
The Chief Minister, in a statement, said that the decision "reflects the sorry state of affairs in the country as the party in power is recklessly running the country without bothering about its youth".
In a Facebook post, the Bambiha gang accused Aulakh of being involved in Moosewala's shooting. It also alleged that Aulakh extorted money from other singers in the Punjabi music industry.
On sustained interrogation, it was revealed that Manoj Kumar had marital issues with his wife due to which he started sending friend requests to random women on social media and would harass them through calling and messaging apps.
The government said that not many in the age group of 21 to 24 years have savings of Rs 12 lakh and after four years many big companies have announced to hire 'skilled' and 'disciplined' Agniveers. Graduation courses will also start for Agniveers which will be recognised in India and abroad.
For last three days, Rahul Gandhi was grilled for about 30 hours in total by a three-member ED team. On Wednesday, the Congress leader's questioning ended at around 10 p.m. but he left the ED headquarters at around 11:45 p.m.
The police have identified four shooters behind the crime, an official statement said. Moosewala, who left his house at around 5 p.m. on May 29 along with two persons -- Gurwinder Singh and Gurpreet Singh (cousin) -- was shot dead by unidentified people.
