On August 3rd, the Enforcement Department of India inspected WazirX, a renowned crypto exchange firm. Due to the non-cooperation of WazirX’s director, the ED has taken the harsh decision of ceasing the crypto exchange’s bank account under the PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act).
The cryptocurrency exchange platform’s assets worth approximately 65 crores were frozen by the ED on Friday while the company was being investigated for a money laundering case.
The federal agency released a statement saying that it conducted a search inspection on the premises of WazirX’s parent company, Zanmai Lab Pvt. Ltd. But the directors of the parent company were uncooperative on the matter. Hence, the ED was forced to cease assets.
ED searches the Director of WazirX Crypto-Currency Exchange & freezes its Bank assets worth Rs 64.67 Crore for assisting accused Instant Loan APP Companies in laundering of fraud money via purchase & transfer of virtual crypto assets.
— ED (@dir_ed) August 5, 2022
The ED said—Sameer Mhatre, the director of WazirX, has complete access to the company’s database. Still, he refused to cooperate and offer any details relating to the transactions of the crypto assets.
Wazirx was investigated in 2021 after the crypto exchange was found to have violated FEMA regulations.
WazirX CEO raises $200M for Shardeum Project amid asset-ceasing scenario:
While the ED has taken some strict actions against the crypto exchange, WazirX—the firm’s CEO working on a co-founded project—Shardeum has raised $200 million through a private token sale.
Shardeum will operate as a layer network based on blockchain technology, which is in testnet form and aims to offer its customers a low transaction fee. According to the information obtained from various sources, the project has several partners and investors onboard.
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