The Enforcement Authority of India (ED) is investigating more than ten cryptocurrency exchanges for helping foreign firms launder money using digital currencies.
The regulator estimated that the accused firms laundered more than Rs 1,000 crore (about $130 million) through instant lending services. Most of these firms are also reported to have ties to China. At least 10 crypto exchanges are under investigation.
The exchanges were issued subpoenas immediately after the searches of the CEO of the WazirX site, which is suspected of laundering $350 million. The ED report says that the accused firms turned to the services of the exchanges and took 100 crores of rupees (about $13 million) from them. After that, they sent cryptocurrencies to international wallets, without fixing the transactions in any way in suspicious transaction reports (STR).
“Once these firms knew they were being watched, they used a convoluted route to move funds overseas. The opaque nature of the crypto ecosystem and the lack of regulation of the industry have provided these firms with the opportunity to freely place their assets offshore. This makes it much more difficult to investigate the proceeds of crime and trace the ultimate beneficiary,” said sources familiar with the case.
Recall that earlier the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recommended that the government impose a ban on private cryptocurrencies.
Source: Bits
I’m James Harper, a highly experienced and accomplished news writer for World Stock Market. I have been writing in the Politics section of the website for over five years, providing readers with up-to-date and insightful information about current events in politics. My work is widely read and respected by many industry professionals as well as laymen.
