THE ENFORCEMENT Directorate (ED) recorded 6,444 Enforcement Case Information Reports (ECIRs) money laundering investigations since 2014 and secured convictions in 53 cases out of 56 cases, convicting 121 accused that were decided on merits by the Special PMLA Courts, the government informed Parliament on Monday.
Responding to a question in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said, “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.”
“Accordingly, the conviction rate, total number of cases in which the accused have been convicted as a percentage of total cases decided on merits on the issue of money laundering is 94.64 percent from April 1, 2014 to November 30,” he said.
According to data shared by the minister, there is an increase in money laundering cases from 181 in 2014-15 to 556 until November 30 this year. “110 cases were reported in 2015-16; 187 cases in 2016-17; 163 cases in 20117-18; 152 cases in 2018-19; 557 cases in 2019-2020; 996 cases in 2020-2021, 1,116 cases in 2021-2022; 953 cases in 2022-23; 698 cases in 2023-24; 775 cases in 2024-25 and 556 cases till November 30 this year,” he said.
On raids and searches carried out by the ED, a sharp escalation with a massive jump from just 46 in 2014-15 to 2,267 in the current year till November was observed. “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,” he said.
Chaudhary said that the IT department has filed 13,877 prosecution cases from 2014 till September 30 this year. Of the total cases filed, 522 have resulted in convictions, while 963 ended in acquittals and 3,345 were withdrawn. “The number of prosecution cases filed and the figures relating to conviction, acquittal, or withdrawal are not directly correlated, as convictions, acquittals or withdrawals, may pertain to cases filed in different years,” he said.