NEW DELHI: The Centre on Tuesday patted itself on the back for conducting more raids and searches on alleged violators of the 2002 Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and the 1999 Foreign Exchange Management Act (c) than was done by the Congress-led UPA dispensation.
“During the first nine years of the administration of PMLA (FY2004-05 to FY2013-14), a small number of searches (112) was carried out”, resulting in “attachment of proceeds of crime of Rs 5,346.16 crore and filing of 104 prosecution complaints”. During the same period, trial courts neither convicted any person accused of money laundering nor confiscated any property under PMLA, the Finance Ministry said in response to a question in the Rajya Sabha.
In contrast, between FY2014-15 and FY2021-22, “in order to dispose of pending investigations in old cases and to complete investigation in new cases in time (a) time-bound manner under PMLA, 3,010 searches were conducted during the last eight years”.
This, according to the Finance Ministry, “resulted in attachment of proceeds of crime worth Rs 99,356 crore, filing of 888 cases and conviction of 23 persons/entities”, besides “confiscation of proceeds of crime to the tune of Rs 869.31 crore”.
Giving its rationale behind the spike in the number of searches by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), the government said this showed its “commitment to preventing money laundering and improved systems for gathering financial intelligence through use of technology, better inter-agency cooperation and exchange of information both domestically and internationally”.
Between FY2004-05 and FY2013-14, 571 searches were conducted and 8,586 cases were taken up for investigation under FEMA, resulting in the issuance of show cause notices in 2,780 cases and adjudication of 1,312 show cause notices, which led to the imposition of a penalty of Rs 1,754.33 crore. At the same time, assets to the tune of about `14 crore were seized under FEMA, the government said.
Citing figures, the Finance Ministry claimed that between FY2014-15 and FY2021-22, the ED, using FEMA as a weapon, conducted 996 searches and took up 22,330 cases for a probe. This resulted in the issuance of show cause notices in 5,329 cases and adjudication of 5,160 show cause notices, “imposing a penalty of Rs 6,376.51 crore”.
Also, assets to the tune of Rs 7,066 crore were seized under FEMA. The Ministry said till March this year, 992 complaints were filed in trial courts under PMLA convicting 23 accused while only one accused was discharged.
1,811 NGOs lost FCRA licences
The government has cancelled the FCRA licences of 1,811 NGOs for violation of provisions of the law in the last three years (2019-2021), according to the Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai. Replying to a question in Parliament on Tuesday, he said that FCRA licence renewal applications of 783 NGOs were rejected by the government. The state-wise list given by the government shows that Tamil Nadu tops the list with 218 cancellations, followed by Maharashtra with 206. While 193 organisations in West Bengal lost their licence, Andhra Pradesh has 168 cancellations.
2K Bangladeshis intercepted in 5 yrs
Even as the Centre and the Assam government continue to be seized of the issue of illegal immigration along India’s eastern borders, 2,399 Bangladeshi nationals were “intercepted and found using fraudulently obtained Indian documents” in the last five years between 2017 and 2022, Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai told the Lok Sabha. The MHA said that state governments “have also been advised to share the particulars of those illegal migrants who have wrongfully obtained Aadhaar cards with UIDAI for appropriate legal action”.