“The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) is investigating several cases related to crypto frauds wherein a few crypto exchanges have also been found involved in money laundering,” read the response by the Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chowdhary in Lok Sabha— the lower house of the Indian Parliament. He further informed that the actions taken by the ED has resulted in a seizure of Rs. 907.48 crore as per provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA), adding that three people have been arrested and four prosecution complaints have been filed before the special PMLA court. These statements came as a response to questions asked by the following Lok Sabha MPs— Umesh G. Jadhav L.S. Tejasvi Surya Jaisiddeshwar Shivacharya Sanganna Amarappa Karadi Why it matters: The response is noteworthy as it provides a good look at the kind of regulatory actions taken by the Indian government against the crypto industry. It reassures investors that the government is keeping a tight leash on the criminal elements in the crypto industry and ensuring compliance with the law. What else was revealed: The response also stated that WazirX (Zanmai Labs) has been issued a show cause notice under Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (FEMA), for transactions involving crypto assets worth Rs. 2,790.74 crore. Chowdhary said that assets totalling Rs. 289.68 crore have been seized under FEMA. The government has also recorded a “few cases of evasion of Goods and Services Tax (GST) by crypto exchanges.” Banning crypto assets: The Indian government said…
