New Delhi, November 5, 2025 : In a major global acknowledgment, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has recognised India’s robust anti-money laundering and asset recovery framework, citing examples from Enforcement Directorate (ED) operations in its latest report, “Asset Recovery Guidance and Best Practices.”
The 340-page FATF report lauds India’s legal and operational mechanisms for tracing, freezing, and confiscating proceeds of crime, highlighting cases where public assets defrauded through financial crimes were recovered and repurposed for public benefit, including land identified for the construction of an airport.
It references several ED-led investigations — including the Rose Valley Ponzi fraud, a drug trafficking case involving Bitcoin seizures worth ₹130 crore, and a ₹6,000 crore investment fraud in Andhra Pradesh — demonstrating India’s growing expertise in value-based confiscation and international cooperation.
In one cited case, benami assets worth ₹280 crore linked to a Maharashtra-based cooperative bank fraud were restored to victims after auction, with the FATF noting that the confiscated land will be used for airport infrastructure “for the benefit of society at large.”
The FATF acknowledged India’s “substantial contribution” to shaping the global framework on asset recovery and inter-agency coordination, underscoring the credibility and influence of the ED’s enforcement model under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
