New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) seized a wallet in the Binance cryptocurrency exchange on Friday and froze 150.22 bitcoins worth Rs. 22.82 crore under the Money Laundering Act.
The search operation was a part of the ongoing investigation into the gaming app “E-nuggets,” according to a tweet from the investigation agency. According to reports, the E-nuggets app exploited cryptocurrency exchanges to launder money.
An FIR dated February 15, 2021, filed by Park Street Police Station, Kolkata Police, under several IPC sections against one Aamir Khan, was the basis for the enforcement agency’s action in September.
Khan was charged with scamming users of the mobile gaming app E-Nuggets.
“Further, after collecting the sizable amount of money from the public, all of a sudden withdrawal from the said App was stopped on one pretext or the other. Thereafter, all data including profile information was wiped off from the said App servers,” the agency said.
The ED seized the bank account of Binance’s Indian partner, the cryptocurrency trading platform WazirX, in August. WazirX was being investigated for allegedly using crypto assets to launder money.
However, the cryptocurrency exchange then claimed in September that the ED, the nation’s watchdog for financial crime, had unfrozen its bank accounts, enabling the business to carry on with banking operations.