PMLA court: Cheques, drugs constitute proceeds of crime

The judge convicted two accused and sentenced them to rigorous imprisonment for three yearsNEW DELHI: Broadening the definition of "property" under Prevention of Money Laundering Act, a special PMLA court in Mohali has ruled that seized bank cheques, even if not encashed, and narcotics both fall under the definition of "property" and constitute proceeds of crime under the money laundering Act.The judgement came Thursday, when ED launched a massive search operation at 30 premises across all zones of the southern region in different narcotics-related cases. The searches are being conducted under the mandate of Centre's 'Nasha Mukt Bharat' campaign with targets in the first phase spread across Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Telangana.The judge convicted two accused and sentenced them to ri