On Saturday, a special court in Mumbai accepted the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) closure report regarding a money-laundering case linked to an alleged ₹10-crore (approximately $1.2 million USD) corporate fraud involving Oil Tools International Services Pvt Ltd (OTISPL), a company based in Raigad, Maharashtra, India. The court determined that the prosecution could not continue once the underlying offence was resolved through a compromise and acquittal.

The case originated from a first information report (FIR) filed on May 14, 2019, alleging cheating and conspiracy by the Indian directors of OTISPL, who were accused of fraudulently altering the company’s shareholding structure and siphoning off funds. Following the FIR, the ED registered an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) in February 2021 to investigate the alleged money laundering. However, the case fell apart when the jurisdictional magistrate allowed the accused directors to settle with the complainant company in January 2022, leading to their acquittal.

The ED informed the court that no properties had been attached under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and that no evidence of 'proceeds of crime' had emerged during the investigation. The court reiterated that without an ongoing predicate offence, there could be no valid money-laundering charges, thus formally accepting the ED's closure report.