In the Sikkim MCX Fraud case, the Indian AML watchdog Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has searched 8 sites in Sikkim, Kolkata, Delhi, and Mumbai. The sites include several LLP offices in Sikkim that were under the authority of brokers dealing with the MCX and NSE in Delhi and Kolkata. Brokers’ bank accounts were blocked for a total of Rs. 4.65 crores, which matched the ill-gotten gains made by the brokers through the unauthorised use of the Stamp Duty Exemption. In addition, a number of stockbrokers’ offices in Delhi and Mumbai, where phoney merchants with addresses in Sikkim were registered, were searched. Evidence that implicated these merchants was discovered.
Based on a FIR dated 17.05.2022 filed by the Sikkim Vigilance Police Station against unidentified persons/companies in response to a complaint made by a resident of Gangtok, Sikkim, the ED opened a money laundering investigation. In the aforementioned FIR, it is claimed that the disproportionate data in MCX trading from Sikkim is highly dubious and that some Limited Liability Partnerships (LLP) companies, private individuals, and traders from other Indian states are engaging in high-frequency MCX trading either by impersonating Sikkim residents or by illegally co-locating in Sikkim in order to unfairly benefit from the Income Tax and Stamp Duty exemptions provided to Sikkim residents. The probe is being expanded upon.
