The government told the Lok Sabha on Monday that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is probing several cases related to cryptocurrencies under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002 (PMLA) and the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) 1999.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman gave this information in a written reply to a question by P Velusamy in the Lok Sabha. Sitharaman said that crime material worth Rs 953.70 crore has been attached/seized or frozen till date and five arrests have been made. Six prosecution complaints have been registered in the Special Court, PMLA, including one complaint for supplementary prosecution.
He said that apart from this, assets amounting to Rs 289.28 crore have also been attached under Section 37A of FEMA under Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) 1999. The Finance Minister informed that the crypto currency exchange Janmai Labs Pvt. Ltd. A show cause notice has also been issued to the directors of Ltd. in a case involving crypto currency transactions amounting to Rs.2790.74 crore.
He said that the Reserve Bank of India has issued public notices on December 24, 2013, February 1, 2017 and December 5, 2017, cautioning the users, holders and traders of virtual currencies that refraining from trading in crypto currency would lead to economic, financial and Operational legal is concerned with customer protection and risk protection.
Sitharaman said its standards were discussed at the plenary session of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) at the request of the G20 Group of Ministers to combat the growing use of virtual assets in money laundering and terrorist financing.
It also includes amendments to FATF recommendations and wording to clarify what types of businesses and activities FATF requirements apply to in the case of virtual assets, he added.
