Financial Crimes Decline in India: ED Director Highlights Shift to Cryptocurrency and Cyber Fraud

NEW DELHI: ED Director Rahul Navin asserted on Friday that financial crimes such as bank frauds, corporate scams, and real estate frauds have seen a visible decline. This decline is attributed to sustained action by investigative agencies and landmark government initiatives.

Delivering his address during the 70th 'ED Day' event, the agency chief said the current criminal landscape is defined by cryptocurrency fraud, cyber-enabled financial crimes, terror financing, anti-national activities, and narcotics trafficking. These areas are the agency's current priority for investigation.

Navin highlighted that a few years ago, the ED's enforcement work was predominantly centered on bank frauds, large corporate scams, and real estate frauds. However, sustained action by investigative agencies, complemented by the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code and the Real Estate Regulation and Development Act, has brought about a visible decline in such offenses.

Today, the criminal landscape is dominated by cryptocurrency fraud, cyber-enabled financial crimes, and other modern threats. Navin called money laundering investigations among the most complex, often spanning multiple jurisdictions and involving intricate cross-border transactions and layered financial structures. These investigations demand engagement with rapidly evolving technologies.

The ED has also given high priority to narcotics-related investigations. Navin cited the agency's prompt and focused response in the Red Fort blast case of November 2025 as a testament to its sharpened vigilance on the money laundering dimensions of terrorism and espionage. The ED arrested Jawad Ahmed Siddiqui, chairman of Faridabad-based Al Falah University, as part of this investigation and filed a chargesheet against him and others.

The ED filed 812 charge sheets, including 155 supplementary charge sheets, under the anti-money laundering law during the last fiscal year, nearly twice the number filed in the previous fiscal year. Over 41% of all charge sheets ever filed by the agency have been filed in just the last two years. The current conviction rate of the ED is 94%, and the agency is confident that most of the over 2,400 cases pending before trial courts will result in convictions and the confiscation of the proceeds of crime.

Navin mentioned that the ED has taken several measures to enhance transparency and accountability in its functioning. The investigative framework has been further strengthened through a complete revamp, including the institutionalization of Risk Assessment Management Committee (RAMC) mechanisms. Directions have been issued to ensure that every action of junior officers is subject to appropriate levels of supervisory review, and a QR-based system to verify summons is in practice.

The ED also attached assets worth Rs 81,422 crore during the last fiscal year, a 170% increase over the previous year. The total provisional attachments stand at Rs 2,36,017 crore. The agency has been utilizing a provision in the PMLA to restitute or restore assets to the victims of financial crimes, and properties worth Rs 63,142 crore have been handed over to rightful owners like banks, investors, and homebuyers.

India's engagement in global anti-money laundering and combating terrorist financing efforts has grown significantly, reflecting the country's growing authority and credibility. Navin stated that financial crime will continue to evolve, and criminals will exploit new technologies, jurisdictions, and vulnerabilities. Therefore, the ED will adapt, innovate, and engage with counterparts across the country and around the world to stay ahead.

The federal probe agency was established on May 1, 1956, and implements two criminal laws: The Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act (FEOA), apart from the civil provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).