Indian crypto exchange WazirX suspected of laundering $350 million

The Enforcement Department of the Government of India has announced the launch of an investigation into the WazirX cryptocurrency exchange.

The Enforcement Authority (ED) of the Government of India ED is investigating two cases against the WazirX exchange related to violations of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA)

“The results of an investigation by the Department of Enforcement showed that the Indian crypto exchange platform Wazirx, operated by Zanmai Labs Private Limited, systematically used the offshore division of the Binance cryptocurrency exchange in the Cayman Islands in its transactions. It was found that almost all crypto transactions between these two exchanges were not only anonymous, but also not recorded in blockchains,” Finance Minister Pankaj Chaudhary announced at a meeting of the upper house of the Indian Parliament.

The Minister told Parliament that, in accordance with FEMA regulations, WazirX was under investigation for suspected money laundering of $350 million in favor of an unidentified group of people.

Recall that one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in India, WazirX, was acquired by Binance back in 2019. Thus, through owning a local platform, Binance was able to enter the Indian market with millions of potential users.

In July, the ED required all cryptocurrency platforms that provide services in the country to provide transaction data for the last three years for internal verification of the facts of a possible violation of the law on foreign exchange regulation. In addition, the department asked to provide all the documentation related to the current work, including the reflection of transactions in accounting.