The Indian Enforcement Directorate seizes assets worth 41.9 billion rupees in cryptocurrency cases and declares one person an economic fugitive.

According to a report from Business Standard on December 9, CoinWorld News stated that on Monday, the Indian Parliament disclosed that the Enforcement Directorate of India, under the anti-money laundering law, had seized criminal proceeds worth approximately 41.9 billion rupees (about $465 million) in cryptocurrency-related cases and declared one defendant an economic offender. In addition, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) of India also discovered undeclared income of 8.8882 billion rupees (about $100 million) from virtual digital asset (VDA) transactions during search and seizure operations. Pankaj Chaudhary, Minister of State for Finance, stated in a written reply to the Lok Sabha: “The Central Board of Direct Taxes has issued notices to 44,057 taxpayers who have traded or invested in virtual digital assets but did not declare them in the VDA schedule of their income tax returns (ITR). The Enforcement Directorate has investigated several cryptocurrency-related cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, seizing/freezing/confiscating criminal proceeds worth 41.8989 billion rupees, arresting 29 people, and filing 22 prosecution complaints. One defendant has been declared an economic offender.” He stated that crypto assets/virtual digital assets are unregulated in India, and the government is undertaking capacity-building initiatives to strengthen monitoring and investigation of virtual digital asset-related transactions.