On 70th ED Day, agency flags rise in crypto fraud, narcotics and terror financing cases

New Delhi: Enforcement Directorate director Rahul Navin, on the occasion of 70th 'ED Day', underscored the evolving nature of the "criminal landscape" and the agency's swift adaptation to the emerging challenges.

"Today, the criminal landscape is defined by cryptocurrency fraud, cyber-enabled financial crimes, terror financing, anti-national activities, and narcotics trafficking. The directorate has proactively adapted to this shift. We have accorded high priority to narcotics-related investigations, adopting a targeted financial disruption strategy to trace illicit proceeds and dismantle drug networks at their financial roots," Navin said.

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"Our prompt and focused response in the Red Fort blast case is a testament to our sharpened vigilance on the money laundering dimensions of terrorism and espionage," he said.

Navin said the agency has filed 812 prosecution complaints, including 155 supplementary complaints, under PMLA this financial year - nearly twice that of the previous year.

He added that "out of all the prosecution complaints ever filed by the directorate, over 41% have been filed in just the last two years".

The agency has a "conviction rate of 94% and we are confident that out of more than 2,400 cases now pending before trial courts, most will result in the conviction of the accused and the confiscation of the proceeds of crime", he said.

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Navin said during the last financial year, ED attached assets of ₹81,422 crore, a 170% rise over the previous year. The total provisional attachments done by ED so far stands at ₹2,36,017 crore, he added. The agency has restituted assets worth ₹63,142 crore to the victims and rightful owners, such as banks, investors and homebuyers, he said.

Union minister Pankaj Chaudhary said Prime Minister Narendra Modi "strengthened" and gave more powers to ED to cure the "cancer" of money laundering, corporate fraud and corruption and not to target any entity as alleged by a certain "ecosystem" in the country.