Bitcoin exchange WazirX said it had been “completely collaborating” with the ED for “a number of days” and provided thorough, open responses to all of their inquiries.
Cryptocurrency exchange WazirX stated that business activities are proceeding regularly and withdrawals of rupees and cryptocurrencies are being processed as usual after the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) raided one of its directors and frozen bank balances totaling Rs 64.67 crore. The cryptocurrency exchange tweeted on Sunday night, “In light of recent reports concerning WazirX, we wanted to tell you that activities are being handled as usual.
Earlier on Saturday, the cryptocurrency exchange claimed that it had been “completely working” with the ED for “many days” and had provided thorough, open responses to all of their inquiries.
The corporation additionally stated that it disagreed with the ED’s accusations and was considering a “further strategy of action.”
The enforcement agency announced on Friday that it had searched one of Zanmai Labs’ directors, which owns WazirX, and had ordered the freeze of their bank accounts.
Because of the non-cooperative stand of the Director of the WazirX exchange, a search operation was conducted under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on 3rd August 2022. It was found that Sameer Mhatre, Director of WazirX, has complete remote access to the database of WazirX. Still, despite that, he is not providing the details of the transactions relating to the crypto assets purchased from the proceeds of crime of Instant Loan APP fraud, ED had said.
The poor regulatory oversight of transactions between WazirX and Binance, the inadequate KYC standards, and the lack of trade tracking on blockchains
It has not attempted to locate these cryptocurrency holdings. It has deliberately helped roughly 16 accused fintech businesses launder criminal funds through the crypto method by promoting obscurity and having inadequate AML standards. Therefore, according to the enforcement agency, comparable moveable assets valued at Rs 64.67 crore held by WazirX were frozen under PMLA, 2002.
Notably, the enforcement agency has been investigating allegations of money laundering against several Indian NBFCs and their fintech partners for engaging in predatory lending practices that violated RBI guidelines and using telemarketers who abused callers’ personal information to extract high-interest rates from borrowers.
