India has amended in Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, an activity which came up from the rising cases of financial crimes and embezzlement. The amendment provides rules for investigation and clarity to ambiguities that existed before. The amendment explains under section 2 that ‘proceeds of crime’ will mean any property obtained through scheduled offence, section 3 clarifies that a person will be guilty of money laundering if he/she has a connection with proceed of crimes through (a) Concealment (b) Possession (c) Acquisition (d) Use (e Projecting as untainted property (f) claiming it as untainted property, in any manner.
Also omitting proviso to Section 17(1) and 18(1) gives the authorized officer under PMLA the right to seize, investigate, and search any person even if absent. Section 44 is amended thus: If no money laundering offence is found after investigation, the authority must submit a ‘closure report’. It is explained and clarified in Section 45 (2) that money laundering offence is not bailable, and an authorized officer can arrest anyone suspected, without a warrant.
