ED Recorded 6,444 Money Laundering Cases Probed Since 2014, 121 Convicted: Govt Tells Parliament. The Enforcement Directorate informed that Special PMLA Courts secured convictions in 53 out of 56 completed cases, resulting in 121 individuals being found guilty.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has recorded 6,444 Enforcement Case Information Reports (ECIRs) related to money laundering investigations since 2014, securing convictions in 53 out of 56 cases, resulting in 121 individuals being convicted by Special PMLA Courts, as reported to Parliament on Monday.
In a response to a Lok Sabha inquiry, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary stated,
“Since 2014-15, the ED has recorded a total of 6,444 cases (ECIRs) for initiating investigation under the Prevention of Money-laundering Act (PMLA). From April 1, 2014 to November 30 this year, the Special Courts of PMLA have delivered judgments on merits on the issue of money-laundering in 56 instances, out of which conviction orders have been passed in 53 instances convicting 121 accused.”
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Chaudhary highlighted that the conviction rate, reflecting the percentage of cases in which the accused were convicted relative to the total cases decided on merits regarding money laundering, stands at 94.64% from April 1, 2014, to November 30.
The data shared by the minister shows a rise in money laundering cases, increasing from 181 in 2014-15 to 556 as of November 30 this year.
The annual breakdown includes 110 cases in 2015-16, 187 in 2016-17, 163 in 2017-18, 152 in 2018-19, 557 in 2019-2020, 996 in 2020-2021, 1,116 in 2021-2022, 953 in 2022-23, 698 in 2023-24, 775 in 2024-25, and 556 cases until November 30 this year.
Additionally, there has been a significant increase in raids and searches conducted by the ED, which surged from just 46 in 2014-15 to 2,267 in the current year as of November.
He noted,
“In 2023-24, the federal investigation agency had conducted 2,600 searches. In the last 11 years, the ED has carried out 11,106 search and seizure operations across India,”
Chaudhary further mentioned that the IT department has filed 13,877 prosecution cases from 2014 until September 30 this year.
Out of these cases, 522 have led to convictions, while 963 concluded with acquittals and 3,345 were withdrawn. He clarified that the figures for prosecution cases, convictions, acquittals, or withdrawals are not directly correlated, as these outcomes may pertain to cases filed in different years.