The Enforcement Directorate on Friday froze bank assets worth Rs 64.67 crore of cryptocurrency exchange company WazirX. The action was taken after officials of the Enforcement agency searched premises linked to the director of the company.
In a tweet, the Enforcement Directorate alleged that WazirX helped companies providing instant loans to launder fraudulently acquired money by allowing them to purchase and transfer of crypto assets.
Crypto exchange companies like WazirX allow consumers to trade cryptocurrencies for other assets such as cash or other forms of digital currencies.
The assets were frozen three days after the finance ministry told the Rajya Sabha that WazirX was under investigation in two cases related to the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999.
In response to a question, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary had said that WazirX, operated by Zanmai Labs Private Limited in India, used infrastructure provided by Cayman Islands-based cryptocurrency exchange Binance.
Cayman Islands is considered to be a tax-haven country, where investors are required to pay very low, or even zero, tax for the money parked by them.
On Tuesday, Chaudhary had also said that crypto transactions between WazirX and Binance were “cloaked in mystery”.
“A show cause notice has been issued under the provisions of FEMA [Foreign Exchange Management Act] against WazirX for allowing outward remittance of crypto assets worth Rs 2,790 crore to unknown wallets,” the minister added.
Last month, the Enforcement Directorate had sent notices to a number of crypto exchanges, including WazirX, seeking details about their customer transactions, according to Moneycontrol.
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