The ED (Enforcement Directorate) is taking advantage of software called CEDOS which stands for ‘Core ED Operations System’, to access information from other organizations, including the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation), NATGRID (National Intelligence Grid), CBDT (Central Board of Direct Taxes), FIU (Financial Intelligence Unit), etc. to identify all kinds of financial irregularities and every connection in the money laundering investigations.
Using CEDOS software, ED officers will be able to search online for people, cases, transactions, underlying data, supporting materials, etc. In order to develop a consolidated database, it will keep a database of all intelligence obtained from any LEAs (law enforcement agencies) as well as current cases of the ED, including information about specific corporate entities, CIN/PAN/Aadhar numbers, bank accounts, mobile numbers, etc.
One of the ED officers said, “Not only this project will enable smooth and fast coordination between the ED and various domestic predicate agencies and the FIU and NATGRID, but ED officers will also have access to databases of various domestic agencies, which will enable us to verify facts in real-time which would have otherwise taken weeks to months. It will help us in having a ready-made database to refer to or to provide linkages as and when they come in contact with ED during any new investigation.”
One of the other officers said that the use of artificial intelligence in this initiative will speed up the money-laundering investigation process and reduce the amount of time required for it. Also, the top consultant has already presented a thorough project report to the organization regarding this case.