Binance crypto exchange’s legal trouble has extended to India now. The world’s largest crypto exchange is under the scanner of the Indian anti-money laundering agency Enforcement Directorate (ED) for its role in the $134 million money laundering case, as per a report in Bloomberg. The ED is currently investigating a money-laundering racket operated through Chinese betting apps that made use of cryptocurrencies to launder money. WazirX, the Indian crypto exchange acquired by Binance in 2019 was allegedly used for laundering a part of the $134 million collected by the betting app operators over the past 10 months. Betting is illegal in India.
People familiar with the matter said that the agency has found Binance didn’t collect information detailed by global anti-money laundering watchdog the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). The ED has reportedly summoned Binance executives for questioning.
Coingape had reported earlier that ED was examining the records for $38 million or 27.9 billion INR worth of cryptocurrencies transferred through WazirX which they alleged the exchange had no records for.
ED has issued Show Cause Notice to WazirX Crypto-currency Exchange for contravention of FEMA, 1999 for transactions involving crypto-currencies worth Rs. 2790.74 Crore.
— ED (@dir_ed) June 11, 2021
ED is now investigating whether Binance Holdings had any role in the money laundering case given the Indian crypto exchange was acquired by them a couple of years back.
Binance’s Legal Trouble Continues
Binance’s legal trouble has continued to mount over the past month as nearly a dozen countries have issued regulatory warnings against the crypto exchange and now it might be investigated in the Chinese betting app money laundering case as well.
Changpeng Zhao, the CEO of Binance had recently talked about improving regulatory relations everywhere it currently offers its services. He also revealed that they are looking for a new CEO with a great regulatory background to help the exchange steer clear of the ongoing legal troubles.
The investigation comes at a crucial time when the Indian government is finalizing its crypto bill. The deputy finance minister in the past had talked about the use of crypto for illicit activities. WazirX had said it would fully comply with the investigation agency and also refuted claims of not implementing AML and KYC policies appropriately.
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