WazirX’s bank accounts were unfrozen by India’s agency for combating financial crime, according to the cryptocurrency exchange.
One of the biggest cryptocurrency exchanges in India by trading volume, WazirX, claimed in a statement that the Enforcement Directorate cleared its funds as a result of its active participation in the current money laundering probe.
After Sameer Mahtre, the exchange director, was allegedly involved in helping 16 fintech companies launder criminal money through cryptocurrency channels, the agency frozen WazirX’s US$8.1 million account.
The probe is related to the rise of so-called Chinese “illegal lending apps,” which has led to a crackdown on such applications and their Chinese shell firms by the Indian authorities.
The Reserve Bank of India, the country’s central bank, has been entrusted by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to create a “whitelist” of all authorized apps.
