WazirX shares update on ED probe, says bank accounts unfrozen
Premium- ED has unfreezed the bank accounts of WazirX and the company said it is now in a position to continue its banking operations as usual
Sharing an update on the Enforcement Directorate (ED) probe, Indian crypto exchange WazirX on Monday said that the company was cooperating with the investigators by providing them all the necessary details, information and documents of the alleged accused companies, who used the WazirX platform.
The company further clarified that it has no association with any of the alleged accused fintech and instant loan app entities which appear to be the subject of ED investigation and is carrying out the KYC/AML checks despite having no legal obligation to do so. “WazirX is like any other intermediary whose platform may have been misused," it said in a release. ED has been conducting an investigation of 16 fintech companies and Instant loan apps.
After an in-depth internal investigation, WazirX said it noticed that most of the users whose information was sought by ED were already identified as suspicious by WazirX internally and were already blocked in 2020-2021.
“Due to the active cooperation extended by WazirX and active Anti-money laundering (AML) checks that led to the blocking of suspicious accounts, ED has unfreezed the bank accounts of WazirX. WazirX is now in a position to continue its banking operations as usual," it added.
WazirX is an India-based crypto exchange platform that allows users to buy, sell, and trade various cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ether, Litecoin, and more. WazirX is India’s largest crypto exchange and has over 12 million users.
Last month, ED had frozen ₹64.67 crore worth bank deposits of WazirX as part of an ongoing money laundering probe against some fraud smartphone-based loan dishing apps ‘backed by’ Chinese funds.
The agency had said that it found that a number of fintech companies involved in "predatory lending" through mobile apps in the country "diverted maximum amounts of funds to WazirX exchange and the crypto-assets so purchased have been diverted to unknown foreign wallets". The ED launched its investigation last year into WazirX for suspected violations of foreign exchange regulations.
The ED said that it was conducting money-laundering investigations against several shadow banks and their fintech companies for violation of central bank norms and indulging in predatory lending practices.
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