India

New Documents

The Enforcement Directorate of India highlighted its progress with respect to two separate money laundering investigations.

India’s Directorate of Enforcement announced that it has provisionally attached 47 immovable properties worth ₹121.81 crore and movable assets worth ₹54.25 lakh belonging to individuals named Amar Mulchandani, Vivek Aranha, Sagar Suryawanshi, Khemchand Bhojwani, and their family members.

Enforcement Actions

The Reserve Bank of India imposed a monetary fine of ₹7.5 lakh on the Nagercoil, India-based bank for know your customer shortcomings.

The Reserve Bank of India imposed a monetary fine on the Bangalore, India-based bank for failing to comply with its know your customer obligations.


Important Facts

  • The U.S. State Department labels India as a major money laundering country. India continues to face vulnerabilities, including informal financial networks, complex onshore and offshore corporate structures, and enforcement capacity constraints. Despite efforts by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to curtail illicit financial activity, the country still sees informal remittance systems used extensively to evade transaction charges and to conduct both legitimate remittances and money laundering. Transnational criminal organizations use offshore corporations and trade-based money laundering to disguise illicit funds and companies use trade-based money laundering to evade capital controls.  The most common money laundering methods include intermingling criminal proceeds with legitimate assets, purchasing bank checks with cash, routing funds through employees’ accounts, and complex legal structures. Illicit funds in India are also laundered through real estate transactions, gold purchases, charities, election campaigns, and educational programs. The illicit proceeds are most commonly derived from tax avoidance, corruption, narcotics trafficking, human trafficking, and illegal trade. The State Department report noted that India prioritizes crimes of tax evasion and counterfeit currency, while anti-money laundering and terrorist financing are lower priorities. India has comprehensive know-your-customer and suspicious transaction reporting requirements and uses enhanced due diligence for politically exposed persons. India has addressed shortcomings in the criminalization of money laundering, and in its domestic framework for confiscation and provisional measures.
-Source: 2021 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR)

Rankings

FATF i

Technical Effectiveness
Compliant : 5 High :
Largely Compliant : 25 Substantial :
Partially Compliant : 15 Moderate :
Non-Compliant : 4 Low :

BASEL i

Rank : 70/141
Score : 5.15/10

TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL i

Rank : 86/179
Score : 40/100

Tax Justice Network i

Rank : 47/133
Score : 48/100