Mumbai: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a Prosecution Complaint (PC) under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, against 19 broking entities and their directors for allegedly colluding with officials of the National Spot Exchange Limited (NSEL) to lure investors into fraudulent trading schemes. The complaint was filed on January 28 before the Special Court (PMLA) in Mumbai, which took cognizance of the matter on February 3, 2025.

The agency earlier filed six chargesheets against 94 individuals and attached assets worth Rs 3,288 crore through 32 Provisional Attachment Orders as part of this probe. These attachments aim to recover the defrauded amounts and compensate the affected investors.

The ED’s investigation was initiated based on an FIR registered under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860. According to the ED, the broking companies, after registering with NSEL, misled their clients with false assurances about the legitimacy of the exchange and actively promoted illegal pair trade contracts, which are not permitted under existing regulations.

Investigations revealed that NSEL, in collusion with these broking firms, created a system that bypassed the mandatory collection of warehouse receipts or physical commodities, knowingly facilitating illicit trades. The broking companies allegedly entered into a criminal conspiracy with NSEL, enticing investors with promises of hefty returns and thereby defrauding them through fraudulent schemes.thethe ED said on Wednesday.

The probe further revealed that The brokerage earned through these illegal activities, amounting to Rs 34.74 crore, was reportedly funneled into business operations, facilitating the layering and integration of proceeds of crime (POC) to project them as legitimate funds. This amount has been attached under PMLA provisions, with the attachment confirmed by the Adjudicating Authority, PMLA, New Delhi.

The ED, along with the Economic Offences Wing of the Mumbai Police, had registered a criminal case in 2013 under the PMLA to probe the NSEL and others associated with it.

The agency had alleged that the accused persons in the said case hatched a criminal conspiracy to defraud investors, induced them to trade on the platform of NSEL, created forged documents like bogus warehouse receipts, falsified accounts and thereby committed criminal breach of trust against about 13,000 investors to the tune of Rs 5,600 crore.