ED initiates investigation in 36 cases against ponzi companies

The Enforcement Directorate has initiated investigation in 36 cases against ponzi companies in last three years, Parliament was informed today.

"The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has taken up investigations in 36 cases against 'ponzi companies' under the provisions of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) 2002 during the last three years," Minister of State for Finance Santosh Kumar Gangwar said in a written reply to Lok Sabha.

Based on the complaints received, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs has ordered investigation through Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) into affairs of 185 companies involved in ponzi, chit fund, multi-level marketing activity companies during the last three years and the current year, he said.

The Central Bureau of Investigation has informed that it has registered 104 regular cases (RCs) related to Chit Fund and ponzi schemes in many parts of the country, he said.

In reply to another question, Gangwar said a total of 29 lakh debit cards were subjected to malware attack last year through ATMs that were connected with the systems of Hitachi.

According to RBI, SIS, the forensic investigation agency, had submitted the final report of investigation to Hitachi which was shared with by them with Yes Bank on February 9.

The final report suggested that the ATM infrastructure of Hitachi was breached and the data between May 21 and July 11, 2016 were compromised, but not the POS (point of sale) infrastructure, he said.

According to the minister, the National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI) has said no independent investigation was carried out by it.

He further said the RBI has advised banks to improve and maintain customer awareness and education with regard to cyber security risks.

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)