Singapore:

Singapore: The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on Friday adopted a mutual evaluation report that assesses the effectiveness of India’s anti-money laundering and countering the terrorist financing regime, a move the government termed a “significant milestone”.

In its brief outcome statement at the end of its three-day plenary meeting here, the global body said India’s legal regime in these two domains was “achieving good results” and that the country has reached a “high level of technical compliance” with the FATF requirements.

It, however, said the country needs to address “delays” related to the conclusion of money laundering and terrorist financing prosecutions.

The final evaluation report for the country will be published later when the “quality and consistency review” is completed, it said.

Sources involved in the process said India has been placed in the “regular follow up” category, a distinction shared by only four other G20 countries, which means that it needs to submit a progress report on implementing FATF measures only in October 2027.

Countries placed in the ‘enhanced follow up’ category are required to submit a follow up report every year.

The Paris-headquartered body leads global action to tackle money laundering, terrorist and proliferation financing. The latest decisions were made public at the end of the June 26-28 FATF plenary.

The Indian side was represented by Additional secretary in the Union finance ministry and Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) in-charge Director Vivek Aggarwal.

In New Delhi, the Union finance ministry issued a statement saying the positive evaluation of India by the FATF was a significant milestone in the country’s efforts to combat money laundering and terror financing.

India’s performance on FATF mutual evaluation demonstrates overall stability, integrity of the financial system, the ministry said.

India’s mutual evaluation on FATF guidelines, a measure that checks a country’s efficacy to frame robust laws and policy and implement them to check financial crimes, was last done in 2010.

An FATF peer review of India ended early this year after a team of international experts made an ‘on-site’ or a physical visit to New Delhi and met officials from various central and state intelligence, investigative agencies, financial regulators and judiciary.

The statement issued at the end of the plenary said it was concluded that India has reached a high level of technical compliance with the FATF requirements and its AML/CFT/CPF regime is achieving good results, including in its money laundering and terrorist financing risk understanding, international cooperation, access to basic and beneficial ownership information, use of financial intelligence, and depriving criminals of their assets and counter-proliferation financing measures.

AML stands for anti-money laundering, CFT for countering financing of terror and CPF means counter proliferation financing.

The statement, however,added that India required “improvements” to strengthen the supervision and implementation of preventive measures in some of the non-financial sectors.

“India also needs to address delays relating to concluding money laundering and terrorist financing prosecutions, and to ensure that CFT measures aimed at preventing the non-profit sector from being abused for terrorist financing are implemented in line with the risk-based approach, including by conducting outreach to non-profit organisations on their terrorist financing risks,” it said.

The government said India’s performance on the FATF mutual evaluation “accrues significant advantages to our growing economy, as it demonstrates the overall stability and integrity of the financial system.” 

“Good ratings will lead to better access to global financial markets and institutions and increase investor confidence. It will also help in the global expansion of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), India’s fast payment system,” it said.

The finance ministry said this recognition from the FATF was a “testament to the rigorous and effective measures implemented by India over the last 10 years to safeguard its financial system from ML/TF threats.” 

“It underscores the country’s commitment to international standards and its proactive stance in the global fight against financial crimes,” it said adding this also sets a benchmark for “countries in our region” to effectively implement international standards on terrorist financing.

The ministry said by this adoption, FATF has recognised India’s efforts mitigating the risks arising from money laundering and terrorist financing, including the laundering of proceeds from corruption, fraud, and organised crime.

External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the FATF has given a good and astounding outcome for India.

File picture of former DPIIT secretary Ramesh Abhishek, whose premises have been raided by the Enforcement Directorate
| Photo Credit: Kamal Narang

The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday raided the premises of retired IAS officer and former Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) secretary Ramesh Abhishek as part of a disproportionate assets linked money laundering probe against him, official sources said.

The ED case stems from a recent CBI FIR registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against the 1982-batch officer. He was raided by the CBI in February.

Mr. Abhishek retired in 2019 from the DPIIT (erstwhile Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion).

The ED is searching the premises of Mr. Abhishek as part of a money laundering investigation, the sources said.

The CBI had alleged in its FIR that Mr. Abhishek enriched himself “illicitly” after retirement by receiving “huge amounts” as consultation fee from private companies whose matters he had dealt while in service.

The CBI and ED have also booked his daughter Vanessa.

The retired officer also held the post of chairman, Forward Markets Commission, and the CBI case was booked against him on a reference from anti-corruption ombudsman Lokpal.

The Lokpal has alleged that the father-daughter duo received big amounts as professional fee from various entities and organisations with whom the former IAS officer had official dealings as the secretary or the chairman.

An Indian national has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for conspiring to commit money laundering, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado has said.

Dhruv Jani (40) has also been ordered to pay $ 1.1 million restitution, a media release issued on Friday said.

According to the plea agreement, starting in January 2020, Jani was part of a conspiracy to launder funds obtained through a government official imposter scheme.

Victims in the U.S. were contacted by telephone and coerced into believing that they were under investigation by “agents” of federal law enforcement agencies.

Federal prosecutors said the victims were told that their identities had been connected to a criminal incident, that their imminent arrest and/or deportation from the United States had been ordered by law enforcement and that the only way to avoid arrest and/or deportation was to pay the “government” large sums of money.

The “agent” then convinced the victim to package and ship the cash to alleged government officials via Federal Express or United Parcel Service. Many of these victims were also directed to mail packages of cash to individuals in other states.

“This sentence holds Mr Jani accountable for his malicious acts of orchestrating Social Security-related and government imposter scams that preyed upon vulnerable persons,” said Gail S. Ennis, Inspector General for the Social Security Administration.