The Union government on Wednesday sanctioned a significant manpower boost for the Enforcement Directorate (ED), authorising more than 1,200 additional investigators and staff for the anti-money laundering agency.

Officials told PTI that the Ministry of Finance had approved the much-awaited cadre restructuring of the agency after 15 years, enhancing its workforce by more than 60 per cent -- from 2,029 to 3,256.

The ministry revised the ED's strength by 1,227 personnel across its six cadres, which include the executive, legal, and adjudication verticals that form the core of its investigation setup, officials said.

Of this total, 803 additional officials have been added to the rank of Assistant Enforcement Officer, 606 to Enforcement Officer, and 531 to Assistant Director of Enforcement.

The last cadre restructuring of the ED, undertaken to reorient an organisation to meet new and upcoming challenges, occurred in 2011.

Data suggests that the number of ED cases, complex investigations, including cybercrimes, Artificial Intelligence and cryptocurrency, and enforcement actions are gradually increasing over the years.

As per official data, searches or raids conducted by the agency under the PMLA almost doubled to 2,892 during the 2025-26 financial year, while it also effected "highest-ever" provisional attachment of assets in that year, representing a 171 per cent increase in the value of attachments to ₹81,422 crore under 712 orders.

The agency issued 461 provisional attachment orders, freezing assets valued at ₹30,036 crore during FY25.

ED raids doubled in the 2025-26 financial year, as compared to 1,491 in the previous fiscal.

The agency filed 812 chargesheets during FY26 compared to 457 such complaints for prosecution filed before courts during the previous year.

The number of ECIRs — Enforcement Case Information Reports, registered to trigger PMLA probes — jumped 39 per cent to 1,080 in the last fiscal, compared to 775 cases filed during FY25.

The 70-year-old agency implements the criminal provisions of two stringent laws -- the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act (FEOA), in addition to the civil sections of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).

Published on May 28, 2026