Govt Strict on cyber fraud, property worth 1000 crores seized

New Delhi: The government on Monday informed the Lok Sabha that cyber and crypto assets worth over Rs 1,000 crore related to crime have been attached or seized under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002. Also, the estimated GST evasion by such companies between November 2022 and April 2019 was around Rs 22,936 crore.

The Finance Ministry said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha that the Enforcement Directorate is probing several cases related to cyber and crypto asset fraud. Which includes the use of applications including online gaming to commit fraud and embezzlement of proceeds thereof.

The Finance Ministry said that proceeds of crime above Rs 1000 crore have been frozen in these cases under the provisions of the PMLA till December 6, 2022.

The Finance Ministry further said that as far as GST evasion is concerned, the formation of CBIC has led to investigation against certain gaming companies based in India as well as abroad. The estimated GST evasion by these companies during April 2019 to November 22 has been pegged at Rs 22,936 crore.

Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chowdhary said that assets worth Rs 289.28 crore have been attached under Section 37A of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999.

with agency input