New Delhi, Aug 7 (PTI) The conviction rate secured by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in money laundering cases over the last five years has been more than 92 per cent, an official data said.

According to the data accessed by PTI, various special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) courts delivered judgments in 41 cases registered under the said law between January 2020 and July 2025, out of which conviction orders were passed in 38 instances leading to the conviction of 98 accused.

The conviction rate is calculated by using the formula of taking the total number of cases in which the accused have been convicted as a percentage of total cases decided on merits on the issue of money laundering, according to officials and the data.

Hence, the conviction rate secured by the ED in money laundering cases over the last five years comes to 92.68 per cent (38/41X100) in about five years, they said.

The ED has been regularly targeted by political parties in the opposition, claiming its actions were biased and that its conviction rate was "poor".

A report prepared by the agency for the 2024-25 financial year said while the legal framework under the PMLA provides for a "structured mechanism" for prosecution, the timely completion of trials continued to face several "systemic" and "procedural" hurdles.

The report released in May said a "primary challenge" in this context was that prosecution of money laundering cases was "intrinsically" linked to the progress of the investigation or trial of the corresponding predicate or primary offence.

"Delays in those proceedings invariably impact the PMLA trial," the report said.

According to the PMLA scheme, which came into force in 2005, the ED cannot register an independent case but has to base its complaint on a primary FIR of the police or any other investigating agency, which is called the predicate offence.

The data also said the ED registered just over 5,063 money laundering cases over the same period (January 2020-July 2025) and the courts ordered confiscation of assets worth Rs 55.14 crore in the context of conviction cases.

The courts also ordered confiscation of assets to the tune of Rs 15,558.21 crore under section 8(7) of PMLA (cases where trial cannot be conducted) during the same period. PTI NES KSS KSS

Money laundering conviction rate highlights prosecutorial success, tied to predicate-offence progress and asset-confiscation orders. The Enforcement Directorate achieved convictions in 38 of 41 PMLA cases decided on merits from January 2020 to July 2025 (92.68%), convicting 98 accused, while registering just over 5,063 money laundering cases in the period; courts ordered asset confiscation in conviction-linked matters and separately in cases where trial could not be conducted. The report emphasizes that PMLA prosecution depends on a predicate offence and that delays in predicate proceedings commonly delay PMLA trials.