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.
Punjab Police's former Head Constable Gagandeep Singh, who planted the bomb at the court complex on December 23, 2021, was killed as it suddenly went off. Six others were injured. The case was initially registered at a Ludhiana police station, but later, it was taken over by the NIA.
Her statement comes after she was dragged by a man when she had gone for an inspection at AIIMS in the early hours of January 19. The man had started making lewd and vulgar gestures towards Maliwal and she was reprimanding him when he asked her to sit in his car, the man suddenly pulled the car glass up and hand of Maliwal got stuck in car's window,
The incident occurred on November 26 last year when the drunk passenger allegedly urinated on a co-passenger in her 70s in the business class of an Air India flight from New York to Delhi. Aviation regulator DGCA on January 5 had said that the conduct of Air India was unprofessional and has led to a systemic failure.
In a surprise move, the Uttar Pradesh government, on Thursday, opposed the bail plea of Union Minister Ajay Kumar Mishra's son, who is one of the accused in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case, in the Supreme Court. Additional Advocate General for Uttar Pradesh Garima Prasad told a bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice J.K. Maheshwari that the crime is "grave".
Last year in June, the Supreme Court dismissed a plea filed by Zakia Jafri, widow of former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri, challenging a clean chit given by the Special Investigation Team to then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and several others in the 2002 Gujarat riots.
Rahul Gandhi, in an open letter addressing the people, alleged that the AAP government in Punjab seems unable to tackle the challenges. The Bharat Jodo Yatra which is being led by the former Congress president completed its eighth day in Punjab on Thursday.
