$114 M seized by Indian enforcement agency linked with crypto crimes: Report

The Indian enforcement agency ED seized a huge amount of funds linked with crypto frauds & also issued notice to the popular Indian crypto exchange WazirX. 

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is an economic intelligence organization that implements laws of economics and defends against financial crimes in the nation. Over the last couple of years, this agency showed strict action against surging fraud & illegal activities linked with cryptocurrencies. 

On 6 April 2023, The ED agency reportedly announced that they seized a total of $114 million funds linked with crypto frauds, by Jan 2023.

Under the latest action, ED seized $35 million (289 crore rupees) under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (FEMA). 

The investigation found that bad actors used cryptocurrencies in illegal fund transactions against the antibmoney laundering measures and also many crypto companies were found involved in these crypto criminal activities. Such criminal activities are showing that cryptocurrencies can be misused, says ministers of State (MoS) Finance Pankaj Chaudhary.

Alongside these fund seizures, the ED agency issued a notice to the WazirX exchange and its directors for transactions worth Rs 2,790.74 crore.

Crypto proponents noted that misuse of cryptocurrencies in illegal activities is forcing the Indian government to bring impactful crypto regulatory police, to ensure the prohibition of bad actors’ involvement in illegal crypto activities. 

At present, the Indian finance ministry is in talks with the financial regulatory bodies of all countries to bring a global regulatory policy to prevent the misuse of Crypto assets in illegal activities. 

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