Front‑running scam: ED raids in 7 cities linked to ex‑Axis MF employee, illegal gains of over Rs 200 crore exposed

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday, August 1, carried out search operations at a number of premises throughout seven cities, Delhi, Gurugram, Kolkata, Ludhiana, Ahmedabad, Bhavnagar, and Bhuj as half of an investigation right into a large-scale front-running rip-off involving an ex-employee of Axis Mutual Fund. The motion was carried out beneath the Prevention of Cash Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.

The raids weren’t at Axis Mutual Fund workplaces, however focused brokers and merchants who allegedly colluded to execute illegal trades utilizing private data from mutual fund transactions.

ED motion follows FIR in opposition to ex-fund supervisor of Axis Mutual Fund(*7*)

The ED’s probe stems from a December 2024 FIR filed by Mumbai Police, which named Viresh Joshi, former Fund Supervisor at Axis Mutual Fund, as the important thing accused. Joshi is alleged to have misused confidential buying and selling data between 2018 and 2021, putting private trades forward of the fund’s official transactions and producing illicit income.

The front-running actions defrauded traders of Axis Mutual Fund, which manages property value over Rs 2 lakh crore.

Dubai terminal used to punch illicit trades; over Rs 200 crore traced(*7*)

ED investigations have revealed that Joshi executed trades via a buying and selling terminal in Dubai, utilizing mule accounts obtained from Indian brokers. A number of different brokers and merchants had been additionally discovered to have exploited advance inputs on Axis Mutual Fund’s trades.

Up to now, the ED has recognized proceeds of crime (PoC) value over Rs 200 crore, funnelled via shell entities and layered financial institution accounts operated by the accused and their members of the family. Officers consider the precise quantity could possibly be considerably larger.

What’s front-running?(*7*)

Entrance-running is a felony observe in the inventory market in which brokers or merchants make use of prior information of large consumer orders to execute their very own transactions and make cash out of the motion of the market due to these consumer trades. Entrance-running undermines investor confidence and distorts monetary market integrity.