The Indian government informed Parliament on Tuesday, February 4, 2026, that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has achieved a conviction rate of approximately 94.82% in cases registered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). This high conviction rate is based on the outcomes of cases decided on their merits in special courts established under the PMLA.
As of December 31, 2025, special PMLA courts have delivered judgments in 58 cases, with 55 resulting in convictions. These convictions involve a total of 123 accused. This signifies a conviction rate of 94.82%, calculated as the percentage of cases where accused individuals were convicted out of the total number of cases decided on their merits concerning money laundering. Furthermore, the government stated that 43 of 104 accused persons were convicted in the 55 cases in the last five years. Since 2020-21, the ED has secured convictions in 43 cases, with 104 individuals convicted under the PMLA's provisions.
The ED has been actively filing cases under the PMLA, with 8,391 cases registered since the Act's enactment in 2002. The agency has also filed 1,960 prosecution complaints, which include additional complaints, against 16,404 people and entities and has closed 1,278 investigations.
Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary addressed concerns about potential delays in ED investigations, explaining that the agency employs a multi-faceted strategy when registering cases, based on money-laundering risks, threats, and information received from various sources. Chaudhary highlighted the ED's efforts to expedite investigations and efficiently conclude cases through increased technology use. This includes utilizing national and international databases, forensic tools, artificial intelligence, open-source intelligence techniques, and digital resources.
Since 2014, the ED has launched investigations into 6,444 money laundering cases. Of the 56 cases decided on merit, 53 have resulted in convictions, involving 121 people. The number of Enforcement Case Information Reports (ECIR) has increased significantly, from 181 in 2014-15 to a peak of 1,116 in 2021-22. The ED carried out 11,106 searches from 2014-15 to November 2025. The number of searches rose sharply from 46 in 2014-15 to 2,600 in 2023-24, and 2,267 searches up to November 2025.
In comparison, the Income Tax Department (ITD) filed 13,877 prosecution cases during the same period. The ITD had its highest number of cases filed in 2017-18 with 4,527, compared to 669 in 2014-15. The ITD conducted 9,657 group searches during the same period, peaking at 1,437 in 2024-25.
In September 2025, the ED reported convictions in 50 of 53 cases in special PMLA courts, achieving a conviction rate exceeding 94%. The agency has facilitated the restitution of assets worth over ₹34,000 crore to victims and legitimate claimants. The ED has set a target of achieving ₹15,000-crore restitution this financial year.