SAFEMA Tribunal Confirms ₹50 Lakh ED Attachment In Syndicate Bank Bribery Case Linked To Former CMD

The Appellate Tribunal under SAFEMA on 12 March held that the provisional attachment of Rs. 50 lakh recovered from the close relatives of Syndicate Bank's former CMD constitutes proceeds of crime under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). A Bench comprising Members Balesh Kumar and Rajesh Malhotra allowed the appeal filed by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED), setting aside the order of the Adjudicating Authority, which had earlier declined to confirm the provisional attachment of...

SAFEMA Tribunal Sets Aside Forfeiture Of Property Bought Nine Years Before Smuggling Offence

A property purchased nine years before a smuggling offence cannot be forfeited on mere assumption that it was funded through illegal earnings, the Appellate Tribunal under SAFEMA has held, setting aside a 2023 forfeiture order against a Karaikal resident. The tribunal held that the competent authority failed to establish any “link or nexus” between the 1990 purchase of the property and a 1999 smuggling case. Member V. Anandarajan observed that the authority had acted on assumption without...

FEMA Can Be Invoked For EEZ Exports With Foreign Exchange Implications: SAFEMA Tribunal, New Delhi

The Appellate Tribunal under SAFEMA at New Delhi has held that, in the facts of the case, activities carried out in India's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) that have foreign exchange implications can be proceeded against under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), even in the absence of a specific notification extending FEMA to the EEZ. Rejecting the argument that FEMA could not apply without such a notification, the tribunal held: “We do not find it necessary in the set of facts and...