The ongoing face-off between Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the raids on her party's election consultancy firm I-PAC is only the latest chapter in a much longer story.
A closer look at the numbers - the surge in ED cases, the value of assets attached, and the political profile of those under its lens -reveals a decade of dramatic expansion for India's financial crime watchdog.
Political Cases Surge, Convictions Lag
While the I-PAC controversy dominates headlines, parliamentary data shows that ED investigations against political leaders have climbed steadily over the past decade.
According to figures shared by Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary, the central probe agency registered 193 cases against sitting and former MPs, MLAs, and political leaders between FY2016 and FY2025.
The spike is sharpest in recent years:
2023 alone accounted for 32 cases, the highest in the 10 years.
65% of all politically linked cases were filed in the last five years.
Yet, despite this surge, only two political leaders were convicted - one each in 2017 and 2022.
ED's Caseload Has Exploded
Political leaders aren't the only ones appearing more frequently in ED files. According to a written reply in the Lok Sabha on December 8, 2025, the probe agency registered 6,444 cases from 2014-15 to November 2025.
The busiest year was 2021-22, with 1,116 Enforcement Case Information Reports (ECIRs), followed by 2020-21 with 996 cases.
Fraud And Racketeering Dominate
The ED's 2024-25 annual report offers a granular view of the crimes investigated over the decade, covering 20 categories. The distribution shows a strong skew:
Fraud tops the chart with 3,849 cases, followed by Racketeering (3,082).
Corruption and bribery rank third with 2,150 cases.
The year 2021-22 stands out again, recording the maximum number of fraud cases (789) and racketeering investigations (577).
Within fraud, the ED lists bank fraud, real estate scams, and cyber/crypto frauds as key sub-categories.
A Decade Of Seizures
Even though fraud dominates the caseload, the value of assets seized tells an even more striking story. Over the last decade, the ED seized Rs 15,730 crore in total, of which Rs 15,431 crore (98%) was seized in FY2022 alone, creating a dramatic spike.
The second-highest year was 2019, with Rs 110.4 crore, followed by 2024 with Rs 81 crore.
ED's Biggest Busts Of 2024-25
In the previous financial year, the ED reported busting 30 major money-laundering-linked fraud cases, with a combined restitution value of Rs 15,261.15 crore.
The Agri Gold Group case topped the list at Rs 6,000 crore (order passed February 21, 2025).
The second biggest was Bhushan Power and Steel Ltd, worth Rs 4,025 crore.
The most high-profile case was of fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi, with a restitution value of Rs 2,566 crore.
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