The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has set a target of filing 500 charge-sheets in money laundering cases in the current financial year and investigating officers have been directed to ensure that once a case is registered, investigations should be completed within one to two years, barring “complex” cases, the agency said on Sunday (Feb 22, 2026).
These measures were discussed and finalized during the 34th Quarterly Conference of Zonal Officers (QCZO) of the federal probe agency held in Assam’s capital, Guwahati, from December 19 to 21 last year. The meeting was presided over by ED Director Rahul Navin.
The agency has been organizing this conference every three months outside Delhi since last year, with the last two editions being held in Kevadia (Gujarat) and Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir).
“The decision to hold the conference in the North-East region reflects the directorate’s recognition of the strategic and operational importance of the region,” the ED said in a statement.
She added that the meeting was significant as it was the last one before the end of the current fiscal period (March 31). Officials were told to focus on “meaningful” achievement of targets, logical closure of investigations, timely filing of complaints for prosecution and ensuring that seizures and punishments are legally sustainable and effectively implemented.
“The target of filing 500 prosecution complaints in the current financial year has been reiterated and all field formations have been asked to make concerted efforts to achieve the same while gearing up for an increased target in the next financial year,” officials said.
“The need for this expanded goal is to proactively close long-running investigations and systematically shorten the life cycle of new investigations to a reasonable time frame of one to two years, except in exceptionally complex cases,” the statement said.
The ED officials were also told that the powers conferred on them under the penal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) have corresponding responsibilities and they should exercise them carefully, fairly and responsibly.
“It was recommended that police officers must be aware of the impact of enforcement actions and ensure that summonses and other legal notices are issued judiciously, based on clear necessity and the right application of mind,” the statement said.
The conference also discussed issues related to “priority areas” such as stepping up efforts to trace illicit assets abroad, identifying business channels being misused for money laundering, misuse of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) and prioritizing digital arrest and cyber fraud cases, which are witnessing a “sharp” rise.
The ED investigators have also been asked to check the proliferation of illegal betting and online gaming platforms in the country, money laundering through stock market manipulation and remain vigilant against foreign funding channels that may be used for illegal narrative building, destabilizing activities or anti-national purposes.
Officers were also advised to make use of mechanisms like Interpol using domestic BHARATPOL, including issuing colored notices, especially ‘Purple’ notices.
A “Purple” notice issued by Interpol aims to locate or provide information on the modus operandi, objects, devices and concealment methods used by criminals.
Cops have also been directed to complete the assessment of all pending cases registered under the now repealed Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA) by March 31.
Issues related to delays, prosecution penalties, police non-cooperation in some states, limited manpower, logistical constraints in remote regions, lack of digitized land records and problems in valuing volatile digital assets were also discussed, the statement said.
He added that police officers were also “encouraged” to make full use of formal channels of cooperation with foreign countries, including mutual legal assistance requests (MLATs), requests for legal assistance (judicial requests) and extradition processes.
“The value of building direct professional relationships with foreign law enforcement counterparts was highlighted as early informal engagement often facilitates faster intelligence sharing and ultimately a smooth transition to formal requests, thereby enhancing ED’s effectiveness in dealing with cross-border money laundering and asset recovery cases,” the company said.
Some other central agencies like Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI), Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Center (I4C) and Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) made thematic presentations for ED officials during the conference.
Published – 22 Feb 2026 18:58 IST
