The Enforcement Directorate has convicted only 23 persons in 5,422 cases registered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act since PMLA came into force 17 years ago, the Union government told the Lok Sabha on Monday.
“Till March 31, 2022, ED recorded 5,422 cases under the PMLA, attached proceeds of crime of Rs 1,04,702 crores [approximately], and filed prosecution complaints [chargesheets] in 992 cases resulting in the confiscation of Rs 869.31 crore and conviction of 23 accused,” Union Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary told the Lok Sabha in a written reply.
The Prevention of Money Laundering Act which was enacted to prevent money laundering mainly resulting from the international narcotics and drugs trade, was enacted in 2002 and implemented in 2005.
In this decade, the highest number of cases – 1,180 – were filed under the law during the financial year 2021-’22.
Till March 31 this year, the ED has filed 30,716 cases under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) resulting in 8,109 show cause notices, the minister said.
Minister said: “Further, 6,472 SCNs [show cause notices] were adjudicated under FEMA, thereby imposing penalty of around Rs 8,130 crore,” he added. “Further, assets to the tune of Rs 7,080 crore [approximately] have been seized under FEMA.”
