Only 23 convicted in over 5,400 PMLA cases filed by ED in 17 years, government tells Parliament

Only 23 people have been convicted on money laundering charges even as the Enforcement Directorate has registered over 5,400 in the past 17 years under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, resulting in the attachment of assets worth over Rs 1.04 lakh crore, the government informed Parliament on Monday.

An analysis showed that almost two-thirds of the total cases — 65.56 per cent or 3,555 of 5,422 cases — were registered after the Narendra Modi government assumed power in 2014. The Opposition had alleged that the Modi dispensation was using central agencies to harass political opponents, a charge denied by the government.

According to a written reply by Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary in Lok Sabha, the registration of cases under PMLA over the years has resulted in the attachment of proceeds of crime to the tune of around Rs 1,04,702 crore.

Of the 5,422 cases registered, filing of prosecution complaints (chargesheets) was only in 992 cases. This resulted in confiscation of Rs 869.31 crore and conviction of 23 accused persons under PMLA, the Minister said in his reply to JD(U) floor leader Rajiv Ranjan (Lallan) Singh).

The PMLA was passed by Parliament in 2002, given assent by the President in 2003 and notified in 2005.

When it comes to Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (FEMA), the ED has taken up 30,716 cases for investigation. 

“After taking up a case for investigation under FEMA, necessary action as per provisions of FEMA is taken which resulted in issuance of 8109 Show Cause Notices (SCNs). Further, 6472 SCNs were adjudicated under FEMA, thereby imposing a penalty of around Rs 8,130 crore. Further, assets to the tune of around Rs 7,080 crore have been seized under FEMA,” Chaudhary said.

The analysis showed that 22,130 (73.33 per cent) of the total FEMA cases were initiated since 2014-15 after the Modi government assumed power.

The statistics provided by the Minister for the past ten years showed that there were a total of 3,985 cases under PMLA. The highest number of 1,180 cases were registered in 2021-22 while 2020-21 had 981 cases.

There were 221 and 209 money laundering cases registered in 2012-13 and 2013-14 when Manmohan Singh was Prime Minister. The first year (2014-15) of the Modi government saw 178 such cases and it declined to 111 in the next fiscal.

However, 2016-17 saw almost doubling of cases to 200 which again saw a decline to 148 in 2017-18. But it rose again to 195 in 2018-19. There was a dramatic rise in 2019-20 when 562 cases of money laundering were registered and it further rose in the next two fiscals.