Guwahati: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached or seized Rs 936 crore in cryptocurrency-related funds according to the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), Union Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary announced on Monday.
The minister added that in these cases, six prosecution complaints (PCs) including one supplemental PC have been filed before the Special Court, PMLA and that five people have been arrested.
Chaudhary stated that because crypto assets are by definition borderless, international cooperation is necessary to prevent regulatory arbitrage. He made this statement in a written response to a question posed in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
A show-cause notice has been issued to cryptocurrency exchange Zanmai Labs Pvt. Ltd. also known as WazirX and its directors under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (FEMA), for transactions involving crypto currencies worth Rs 2,790 crore. Assets totaling Rs 289.28 crore have also been seized under section 37A of FEMA.
Accordingly, the Minister stated that any type of law, whether it be for regulation or for banning can only be effective with major international collaboration on the assessment of the benefits and hazards as well as the development of a common taxonomy and standards.
He added that the ED has taken the required measures in accordance with the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) provisions in a number of cases involving cryptocurrency frauds in which a few crypto exchanges have also been discovered to be involved in money laundering.