New Delhi: According to the Ministry of Finance, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted over 1,758 raids and special investigations under the terms of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) between 2011 and 2020. According to the government’s response, the ED was only able to win 23 convictions for money laundering between July 2005 and February 2022, with one being released on the grounds of merit.
Member of Parliament, Manish Tiwari raised the unstarred question in the Lok Sabha, during the ongoing Budget Session.
From April 2011 to March 2020, the ED carried out 1,027 searches and raids under the Foreign Exchange Management Act of 1999 (FEMA) and 1,758 searches under the Patriot Act. During the same time period, 1,999 enforcement case information reports (ECIR) were filed under the PMLA. FEMA, on the other hand, opened 18,003 investigations.
The Ministry of Finance further said that the prosecution complaints have been filed in 943 cases which are under different stages of trial.
The government also stated that 112 searches were conducted between 2004 and 2014, yielding proceeds of crime worth Rs 5346.16 crore and the filing of 104 criminal petitions. During the period 2014-22, 2,974 searches were undertaken, yielding Rs 95,432.08 crore in proceeds of crime and the filing of 839 prosecution complaints.
From July 2005 to March 2022, ED under PMLA conducted searches in 3,086 cases, ECIRs recorded were 4,964, and only 943 prosecution complaints were filed.
“Increase in number of searches show Government’s commitment to prevent money laundering and improved systems for gathering financial intelligence through use of technology, better inter-agency cooperation and exchange of information both domestically and internationally, concerted efforts to complete pending investigations in old cases and investigations in complex money laundering cases that have multiple accused requiring multiple searches are some of the reasons for increase in number of searches,” the government said.
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