MoS Finance in Rajya Sabha on illegal loan app cases
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has furnished a list of digital lending apps (DLAs) being used by the regulated entities (REs) of RBI to the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY), which in turn has shared the list with the respective intermediary (app stores) and requested them to ensure that only the apps figuring in the list are hosted on their app stores.
This was informed by Union Minister of State for Finance, Bhagwat Kisanrao Karad, in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.
Giving information on addressing the issue of money laundering through illegal loan apps, the minister said that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has been entrusted with the task of curbing money laundering under the provisions of PML Act, 2002.
The ED has initiated investigation under PMLA in several cases where the proceeds of crime have been generated and acquired by accused persons/ entities through illegal loan apps, Karad said.
In these cases, the minister said that as on date, proceeds of crime of Rs.2,116 crore (approx) have been identified, out of which proceeds of crime amounting to Rs.859.15 crore has been attached/ seized/ freezed under the provisions of PMLA.
Further, assets amounting to Rs.289.28 crore have been seized under Section 37A of Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999.
Giving more information, Karad said that the RBI has issued master circular on Know Your Customer (KYC) norms/ Anti-Money Laundering (AML) standards/ Combating Financing of Terrorism (CFT)/ Obligation of banks and financial institutions under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
Under this circular, banks and financial institutions have been advised to follow certain customer identification procedures for opening of accounts and monitoring of transactions of suspicious nature to avoid its misuse for money laundering and reporting the same to the appropriate authority, the minister said.
[With Inputs from IANS]
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