The Indian Parliament was informed on Monday that the Enforcement Directorate is investigating various cases of fraud related to cryptocurrency or virtual digital currency. These investigations have uncovered a few crypto exchanges that have also been involved in money laundering.
The Minister of State for Finance, Pankaj Chaudhary, has said that virtual digital assets have the potential to be criminally misused.
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According to Chaudhary, the Directorate of Enforcement has taken necessary action under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, in response to these cases. As of January 31, 2023, the Directorate has attached, seized or frozen proceeds of crime amounting to Rs 936.89 crore, arrested five individuals, and filed six Prosecution Complaints before the Special Court, PMLA in these cases. In addition, under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999, assets worth Rs 289.28 crore have been 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 Directors under FEMA for transactions involving cryptocurrencies worth Rs 2,790.74 crore. As crypto assets are currently unregulated in India, frauds related to crypto are dealt with under existing laws against fraud and cybercrime.
Disclaimer: Crypto products and NFTs are unregulated and can be highly risky. There may be no regulatory recourse for any loss from such transactions. Cryptocurrency is not a legal tender and is subject to market risks. Readers are advised to seek expert advice and read offer document(s) along with related important literature on the subject carefully before making any kind of investment whatsoever. Cryptocurrency market predictions are speculative and any investment made shall be at the sole cost and risk of the readers.