NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is back ₹32,678 crore in seized assets from fraud victims and other claimants in fiscal year 2025-26 (FY26), more than double the amount restituted a year earlier, underscoring the acceleration of its anti-money laundering efforts.
Restitutions that apply to banks, investors and home buyers are comparable to ₹The agency reported 25,15,263 million crowns in the fiscal year in its annual report published on Friday. Restitution refers to the return of property linked in money laundering cases to the rightful owners based on court orders.
The ramp-up is accompanied by a broader increase in enforcement activities. The ED recorded 1,080 cases in the year ending March 2026, up from 775 in the previous year, and issued 712 interim attachment orders against 461 a year earlier.
The value of attached assets has skyrocketed ₹81,423 crore in FY26 from ₹30,364 crore in FY25. The amount returned in FY26 represents more than half of all restitutions made by the agency to date, while the FY25 figure alone matched the total returned for the previous decade, the report said.
Speaking at an event to mark 70 years of the agency’s existence, ED Director Rahul Navin said sustained enforcement and policy measures have led to a visible decline in traditional crimes such as bank fraud, corporate fraud and real estate fraud.
“Today, the criminal landscape is defined by cryptocurrency fraud, cyber financial crimes, terrorist financing, anti-national activities and narcotics trafficking,” Navin said.
The agency also filed 812 complaints for prosecution under the Money Laundering Prevention Act in FY26, nearly double the number from the previous year.
“To put this into perspective, of all prosecution complaints ever filed by the Directorate, more than 41% were filed in the last two years alone. This acceleration in investigative and prosecution performance is not accidental; it is the result of a deliberate, sustained and intelligence-led effort,” he said.
Navin said the ED’s conviction rate is 94% and expressed confidence that most of the more than 2,400 cases before the courts will result in convictions and confiscation of proceeds of crime.
Revenue Minister Arvind Shrivastava, who was also present at the event, said the challenge is to ensure that enforcement remains set so that legitimate participants in the formal economy are not unduly burdened.
“All actions must be based on the highest standards of professionalism, integrity and transparency. Investigations must be timely, evidence-based and effective with a focus on speedy apprehension, decision-making and prosecution,” he said.
