India’s Directorate of Enforcement (ED) says it has frozen more cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin, tether, and the Wazirx token. This is done as part of an investigation into the mobile gaming app Enuggets. The ED announced that almost 86 bitcoins discovered at Binance crypto exchange were frozen.
Indian Authority Freezes Other Cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin Tether and Wazirx Token
India’s Directorate of Enforcement (ED) announced Friday that it has frozen two more cryptocurrencies under the country’s Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The ED is the Indian government’s law enforcement and economic intelligence agency. Here are the details of the announcement:
Directorate of Enforcement has frozen the cryptocurrency currencies WRX and USDT. This is equivalent to Rs 47.64 crores.
Aamir Khan was and other people involved in E-nuggets were subject to a money laundering probe by the ED. The investigation was based on an FIR dated February 15, 20,21.
Aamir Khan, S/o Nesar Ahmed Khan launched E-Nuggets, “which was designed for the purpose of defrauding public,” the Indian authority said. “Further, after collecting handsome amount from the public, all of the sudden, the withdrawal from the said app, was stopped, on the pretext of one and other excuses.”
It explained that it had been revealed by the agency that the accused used a cryptocurrency exchange to transfer the money earned from the E-nuggets game app.
Amount equal to Rs 47.64 Lakh was found in Wazirx, a wallet for crypto exchanges. It belonged to Aamir Khan and associates. This amount has been frozen by PMLA.
The ED further noted that cash in the amount of Rs 17.32 million was seized from Amir Khan’s residence during previous searches.
Indian Authority Blocks more Bitcoin in Binance
The ED has just announced the following:
85.91870554 Bitcoins are equivalent to USD 1,674,255.7 (equivalent in Rs 13.56 Cr). as per market rate). Balance in Binance Exchange was frozen
The ED had previously announced that it had frozen 77.627101139 Bitcoins on Binance. This means that the ED has frozen 8.29160415 additional BTC.
Binance believed that Wazirx was acquired by Binance in 2019. However, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) recently said that the acquisition “was never completed,” emphasizing that “Binance has never — at any point — owned any shares of Zanmai Labs, the entity operating Wazirx.”
In August, the ED frozen Wazirx’s bank assets in excess of $8 million. Wazirx stated earlier in the month that their bank accounts had not been frozen. The ED froze $46 Million of Vauld’s crypto- and bank assets, following Wazirx. Vauld is a cryptocurrency platform backed Peter Thiel. August saw the agency search crypto exchange Coinswitch Kuber. However, the exchange’s CEO said that it was not related to money laundering investigations.
How do you feel about India’s decision to freeze more cryptocurrency during investigations into money laundering? Please comment below.
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