ED Chief sets 2-yr deadline for concluding PMLA probes

New Delhi: The time-to-conclusion for investigations under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) needs to be brought down to one to two years except in complicated matters. This was discussed and directed by ED Director Rahul Navin during the 34th Quarterly (three-day) Conference in Guwahati last week.

Currently, it takes the agency 4-5 years (average) to conclude investigations and file prosecution complaints (equivalent to chargesheet).

ED chief has also set a target of filing 500 prosecution complaints in the current financial year while also preparing for an enhanced target in the next financial year.


"The need for this enhanced target is to proactively conclude long-pending investigations and to systematically reduce the lifecycle of new investigations to a reasonable timeframe of one to two years, except in exceptionally complex cases", the agency said in a press statement on Sunday.

The ED top brass also laid down key priority areas which include: tracking of foreign assets; closely examining professional money laundering channels disguised as trade for various types of crimes generating proceeds of crime; misuse of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC); digital arrest scams and cyber fraud; financial networks of drug traffickers and hawala linkages; money laundering through share market manipulation; foreign interference and illicit funding for anti-national activities.

Special emphasis was given to IBC. "Instances of potential collusion between corporate debtors, resolution professionals, members of the Committee of Creditors, and other stakeholders were flagged as areas requiring scrutiny. It was emphasised that cases where the IBC framework is misused to defeat attachment proceedings or to legitimise proceeds of crime must be carefully examined and addressed," the agency said.