Enforcement Directorate on June 11 issued a show cause notice to WazirX Cryptocurrency exchange under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) 1999 for alleged transactions involving cryptocurrencies worth Rs 2,790.74 crore https://twitter.com/dir_ed/status/1403256929435017217?s=08 In a statement issued by the Enforcement Directorate, and verified by MediaNama, the agency said that it initiated the FEMA investigation on the basis of the ongoing probe into Chinese-owned illegal betting applications. The agency also said that the notice was issued to WazirX CEO Nischal Shetty and Co-founder Sameer Hanuman Mhatre. Nischal Shetty, CEO of WazirX told MediaNama, "WazirX is yet to receive any show cause notice from the Enforcement Directorate as mentioned in today's media reports. WazirX is in compliance with all applicable laws. We go beyond our legal obligations by following Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti Money Laundering (AML) processes and have always provided information to law enforcement authorities whenever required. We are able to trace all users on our platform with official identity information. Should we receive a formal communication or notice from the ED, we'll fully cooperate in the investigation." According to the Enforcement Directorate statement, ED allegedly found that Chinese nationals had laundered proceeds of crime worth Rs 57 crore by converting the INR into crypto-currency Tether (USDT). The same was then transferred to Binance, which is an exchange registered in Cayman Islands "based on instructions received from abroad". "In the period under investigation, users of WazirX via its pool account, have received incoming cryptocurrency worth ₹880 crore from Binance accounts…
