PMLA cases probed by ED have increased over 500% in 3 years: Govt data

In the last 10 years, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) investigated nearly 25,000 cases under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) and close to 4,000 cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the Union government said on Monday (July 25).

Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said this in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.

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As per the government’s data, in the last 10 years, the financial year 2021-22 saw the highest number of cases investigated by the ED under both FEMA and PMLA.

₹1 lakh crore-plus proceeds of crime

In FY 2021-22, the ED took up 5,313 cases to probe under FEMA and 1,180 under PMLA.

Source: Lok Sabha Answers, July 2022

“During the last 10 years, the Directorate of Enforcement has taken up around 24,893 cases for investigation under the provisions of Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (FEMA) and has recorded around 3,985 cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA),” Chaudhary said.

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Under PMLA, till March 31, 2022, the ED recorded around 5,422 cases and necessary action was taken which resulted in the attachment of proceeds of crime (PoC) to the tune of ₹1,04,702 crore (approximate), filing of prosecution complaints in 992 cases resulted in the confiscation of ₹869.31 crore and conviction of 23 accused persons, he added.

Over 30,000 cases

According to the minister, till March 31, 2022, the ED took up around 30,716 cases for investigation under FEMA and necessary action was taken which resulted in the issuance of 8,109 Show Cause Notices (SCNs). Also, 6,472 SCNs were adjudicated under FEMA, thereby imposing a penalty of around ₹8,130 crore, and assets to the tune of ₹7,080 crore (approximate) have been seized under FEMA.

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Explaining the role of the ED, the minister said, “It may be mentioned that the Directorate of Enforcement is an investigation agency which is mandated with the task of enforcing provisions of FEMA, PMLA and Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018 (FEOA).

“The role of Directorate comes in to picture as and when any contravention under FEMA and occurrence of scheduled offence disclosing the generation of PoC (Proceeds of Crime) as defined under Section 2(1)(u) of PMLA is noticed by the Directorate or a warrant of arrest issued by the Magistrate or Court after taking cognizance of any scheduled offence appended to FEOA and where the amount involved is ₹100 crore or above, provided the accused has gone outside India.”

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