₹1.45 lakh-crore assets attached under PMLA till 2024: ED data

Out of this amount, the federal agency attached proceeds of crime worth ₹21,370 crore in the first nine months of Financial Year 2024-25 alone

Assets worth ₹1.45 lakh crore have been attached by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) till date under the prevention of money laundering act (PMLA), according to the financial crime agency’s data till December 31, 2024, accessed by HT.

The agency has arrested 911 persons since coming into existence, out of 94 were arrested in the first three quarters of 2024-2025. (@dir_ed | Official X account)

Out of this amount, the federal agency attached proceeds of crime worth ₹21,370 crore in the first nine months of Financial Year 2024-25 alone.

Prior to 2024, ED’s total attachments stood a ₹1.24 lakh crore, most of which ( ₹ 1.19 lakh crore) has been done since Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power (between 2014 and 2024).

The PMLA was enacted in 2002 and implemented from July 1, 2005, to check serious crimes of tax evasion, generation of black money and money laundering.

“In last five-six years particularly, the ED has intensified its action against the money laundering and has arrested top politicians, businessmen, hawala operations, cyber criminals, traffickers etc. Our total attachments under PMLA are now worth ₹1,45,927 crore, in total 7,403 registered till date December 31, 2024,” said a senior officer, who asked not to be named.

The agency has arrested 911 persons since coming into existence, out of 94 were arrested in the first three quarters of 2024-2025.

As many as 100 persons have been convicted under PMLA so far in 44 cases, out of 36 (individuals) were convicted from April to December 2024.

Facilitating restitution of attached assets to the victims or legitimate claimants like banks is another area where ED has scored big in 2024. Out of ₹22,737 crore worth assets restituted by ED till date, ₹7,404 crore have given back since April 2024 alone.

Some of the cases in which money has been given back to the banks or victims include PMLA case (s) against Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi, Rose Valley chit fund scam, National Spot Exchange Ltd (NSEL) fraud, and others.

The ED investigates financial crimes under two criminal laws — PMLA and the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act (FEOA) — apart from the civil provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).

FEOA was enacted by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government in 2018 to cripple those who are charged with high-value economic frauds and abscond from the country to evade the law.

The latest data shows that ED has filed 23 FEOA applications till date, four of which were in 2024. The courts have declared 13 persons as fugitive economic offenders out of 23 applications.

In June last year, global anti-money laundering watchdog – Financial Action Task Force (FATF) India saying it has a high level of technical compliance with its standards to counter money laundering and terror financing.