The global watchdog FATF has new asset recovery rules, its biggest reform in 30 years. It praised India's Enforcement Directorate, citing its laws and successful case studies like the Agri Gold fraud as a global benchmark for others to follow.
The ED arrested Vuenow Group CEO Sukhvinder Singh Kharour and his wife, Dimple, for a ₹3,558 crore Ponzi scheme involving fraudulent "cloud particle" investments.
Under the PMLA implemented in 2005, the investigating agency ED has so far attached assets worth ₹ 1.45 lakh crore. In 2024 alone, the agency has attached assets worth more than ₹ 21 thousand crore.
In its order, the authority stated that it noted that the equity shares and movable assets that the ED had attached were proceeds of crime and were connected with money laundering offences.
The head of the Alchemist Group, former TMC MP Kanwar Deep Singh, was arrested by the ED in January 2021 on charges of money laundering. The ED investigation also found that Alchemist Group utilized some of the money received by defrauding the public to make payments to aviation firms on behalf of TMC
The ED's action occurred as the agency conducted raids at 15 locations targeting individuals suspected of involvement in money laundering networks associated with Mahadev Online Book in Kolkata, Gurugram, Delhi, Indore, Mumbai, and Raipur.