ED (Enforcement Directorate)
Definition
India's Enforcement Directorate investigates economic offences under FEMA and the PMLA 2002. Its primary tools are property attachment under PMLA and prosecution before PMLA Special Courts. It operates in parallel with other agencies on major fraud cases.
- Full name
- Enforcement Directorate
- Governing statutes
- FEMA, PMLA 2002
- Primary tool
- Property attachment under PMLA
- Adjudication forum
- PMLA Special Courts
- Jurisdiction
- India
Common questions
How does the ED differ from the SFIO among India's fraud investigation agencies?+
The ED focuses on money laundering and foreign exchange violations under PMLA and FEMA, with attachment of proceeds of crime as its central power, while SFIO investigates corporate fraud under the Companies Act. The two often run parallel investigations on the same underlying fraud.
What does attachment under PMLA actually achieve before conviction?+
It freezes or takes control of property the ED alleges is proceeds of crime, preventing its dissipation while the underlying case proceeds, though attachment itself is provisional and subject to confirmation by the adjudicating authority and ultimately the Special Court.
Related terms
- Parallel Proceedings
- Simultaneous civil and criminal proceedings arising from the same underlying facts, often before different tribunals. A company may face a civil SEC...
- PMLA Attachment
- Under India's Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002, the ED can provisionally attach property believed to be proceeds of crime before any...
- SEC
- The US Securities and Exchange Commission: the federal regulator for securities markets. It has civil enforcement powers, can seek disgorgement, civil penalties,...
- SFIO
- Serious Fraud Investigation Office: a statutory body under India's Ministry of Corporate Affairs that investigates corporate frauds under the Companies Act 2013....
- SFO
- The UK Serious Fraud Office: a department of the Crown that both investigates and prosecutes serious and complex fraud, bribery, and corruption....