Crypto Fraud Case Investigated by ED: MoS Finance

The Parliament of India was informed on Monday that the Law Enforcement Directorate is investigating various cases of fraud related to cryptocurrency or virtual digital currency. These investigations uncovered a few crypto exchanges that were also involved in money laundering.

Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said virtual digital assets could be used for criminal purposes.

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According to Chaudhary, the Enforcement Directorate has taken the necessary steps under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002, in response to these cases. As of January 31, 2023, the Directorate has seized, seized or frozen proceeds of crime amounting to Rs 936.89 million, arrested five people and filed six prosecution complaints to the Special Court, PMLA in these cases. In addition, under the Foreign Exchange Management Act 1999, assets worth Rs 289.28 crore were seized.

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The minister also mentioned that a show cause notice has been issued to cryptocurrency exchange Zanmai Labs Pvt Ltd, also known as WazirX, and its administrators under FEMA for transactions involving cryptocurrencies. worth Rs 2,790.74 crore. Since crypto assets are currently unregulated in India, crypto-related frauds are handled under existing fraud and cybercrime laws.

Disclaimer: Crypto products and NFTs are unregulated and can be very risky. There may be no regulatory recourse for any loss arising from such transactions. Cryptocurrency is not legal tender and is subject to market risk. Readers are advised to seek expert advice and carefully read the offering document(s) and important related material on the subject before making any type of investment. Cryptocurrency market predictions are speculative and any investment made will be at the sole cost and risk of the readers.