At least 10 criptocurrency exchanges are under the Enforcement Directorate ED scanners for allegedly laundering 1,000 crore for firms being investigated in the instant loan app case. According to an Economic Times report, most of the firms under investigation have a China link.
The ED investigation revealed that the accused approached the exchanges first to buy coins worth more than 1000, which were later sent to international wallets. The accused exchanges did not raise suspicious transaction reports STRs to the authorities. KYC details were also found to be dubious in many instances.
While the agency has so far frozen the accounts of WazirX, similar transactions have taken place on the other exchanges and they have been asked to join the probe, an official close to the development told ET.
The officials of the criptocurrencies are likely to be called for questioning by the central probe agency next week.
The Enforcement Directorate is closely monitoring the recent social media row between the WazirX and Binance over the ownership and non-compliance of the Indian exchange. The ED has approached both companies, questioning who is responsible for keeping the details of the 15 million accounts on the exchange.
The acquisition of WazirX was announced in the year 2019 by Binance, the world's largest exchange by trading volume. According to the investigation agencies' actions against the Indian platform, Changpeng Zhao, chief of Binance, denied ownership stating that the transaction was never completed.
Nischal Shetty, founder of WazirX, countered the claims and said that the platform was acquired by Binance and they have all the legal documents to prove it.
In a tweet, Shetty said that Zanmai Labs was responsible for the operation of WazirX under a license from Binance. He claimed that the domain name, root access to AWS servers and the criptocurrency profits of WazirX were owned by Binance.
ED has frozen WazirX's accounts for aiding 16 tech companies under investigation for money laundering in order to divert their proceeds of crime using the criptocurrency route.