Indian MP Nishikant Dubey Says Crypto Is Used for Bribery and Money Laundering

Nishikant Dubey, a member of Bharatiya Janata Party’s member of parliament in India, said on Friday that cryptocurrencies are being used to facilitate bribery and money laundering.

Dubey Labels Crypto as a Threat to the World

At Lok Sabha, the lower house of India’s parliament, Dubey shared his disapproval for the innovation of cryptocurrencies.

“In our standing committee report in 2013, we mentioned that cryptocurrencies were a looming threat to the world. But the UPA government didn’t pay attention to it,” he said.

Dubey went further to stress that the decentralized nature of cryptocurrencies makes it a perfect tool for anyone who wants to get bribery and corruption. He also said that such a person can also buy drugs through cryptocurrency.

The politician also said the cryptocurrency is a global issue and could overshadow India’s fiat currency.

Dubey Praises RBI for Effort to Launch CBDC

despite his disapproval of cryptocurrencies, Dubey praised the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for its efforts to launch its own Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).

According to a previous report, the country’s finance minister said India is expected to launch its digital currency before the end of the year.

Dubey also applauded the government for the proposed 30% taxation on revenue from crypto assets and 1% tax deducted at source (TDS) announced during the Union Budget. The proposal on crypto taxation is expected to take effect from April 1st while that of TDS will begin on July 1st.

Fiats, Not Crypto, Are Mostly Used for Fraud

Dubey’s claim about cryptocurrency being used to aid illicit activities does not rule out the fact that fiat currencies are mostly used for corrupt practices such as fraud, bribery, and money laundering. 

Last October, Coinfomania reported that British retail and commercial bank NatWest Bank pleaded guilty to charges of failing to comply with anti-money laundering compliance and facilitating the laundering of $554 million by one of its clients.

There has also been a case where Maltese-based private bank, Pilatus Bank, faced a $5.8 million money laundering lawsuit along with its head of legal compliance, Claude-Anne Sant Fournier.

In February, Coinfomania reported again that Credit Suisse, one of the largest private banks in the world, was caught helping criminals conduct large scale money laundering worth over $109 billion.