ED Has Seized ₹4,189.89 Crore In Crypto-Linked Black Money Under PMLA; 44,057 Notices Issued For Unreported Trades: Centre Tells Lok Sabha

The Centre, in response to a question posed in the Lok Sabha, relating to black money routed through cryptocurrency, has informed that the Enforcement Directorate has attached, seized, and frozen proceeds of crime worth Rs. 4189.89 crore under the Prevention of Money Laundering (PMLA), 2002. On Monday, December 08, 2025, in relation to Regulations governing cryptocurrency in the country, the Centre outlined statistics of tax evasion cases linked to cryptocurrency and Virtual Digital Assets (VDAs) detected by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) on multiple occasions. As VDAs fall under the PMLA making Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) as Reporting Entities, the Centre enforced mandatory suspicious transaction reports to FIU-IND. To crack down on crypto black money, the Centre stated that it had tightened the noose around non-reporting of VDAs in ITR. Using data analytics tool, particularly, Project Insight analytics, it analysed TDS and Income Tax returns filed by VASPs and detected unreported VDA transactions in ITRs. It was informed that 44,057 notices were sent to taxpayers traded in VDAs but did not report these in Schedule VDA of their Income Tax Returns wherein undisclosed income from VDA transactions of Rs 888.82 crore was identified, 29 arrests made and 22 prosecution complaints were underway. Further, one accused had been declared a Fugitive Economic Offender. On regulatory framework to monitor black money in crypto exchanges, the Centre informed that the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act, 1988, and the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015, apply to all assets, including VDAs. The Benami Act enables prosecution where assets, including VDAs, are held benami, and the Black Money Act enables action against undisclosed foreign assets, including VDAs. Government also imparted digital forensics training to Officers through NFSU, Goa. To help identify and trace VDA-linked transactions from captured data, the Officers were trained in tracing blockchain-based black money flows. Clickhere to read answerby the Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance, Shri Pankaj Chaudhary.

ED Has Seized ₹4,189.89 Crore In Crypto-Linked Black Money Under PMLA; 44,057 Notices Issued For Unreported Trades: Centre Tells Lok Sabha

Parul Bose

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