NSEL payment default case: Court asks ED to monetise ₹1.9K-cr assets for restitution

The restitution is to be carried out through National Spot Exchange Limited’s (NSEL) parent company, 63 Moons Technologies Ltd, which is the assignee of the specified creditors and investors

MUMBAI: More than 13 years after the ₹5,600-crore National Spot Exchange Limited (NSEL) payment default left thousands of traders awaiting their dues, a special court has directed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to monetise attached assets worth ₹1,950 crore to facilitate restitution under an approved settlement scheme.

NSEL payment default case: Court asks ED to monetise ₹1.9K-cr assets for restitution

The restitution is to be carried out through National Spot Exchange Limited’s (NSEL) parent company, 63 Moons Technologies Ltd, which is the assignee of the specified creditors and investors, as and when the assets are monetised, according to the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court’s order passed on Thursday.

The court said the direction was in accordance with the one-time settlement scheme approved by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Mumbai, on November 28, 2025. It passed the order on applications filed by 63 Moons Technologies Ltd and a representative of the NSEL Investors Forum.

As the assets are attached under both the PMLA and the Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors (in Financial Establishments) Act (MPID Act), the court directed the ED to proceed with their monetisation in consultation with the competent authority appointed under the MPID Act for the NSEL case. The attachments under the latter law were made by the Mumbai police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW). The ED’s investigation stems from an EOW case registered in 2013.

In a statement, NSEL described the settlement as “historic”. Referring to an earlier payout of ₹179 crore to 7,053 smaller traders with outstanding dues of less than ₹10 lakh, the exchange said 63 Moons had continued to support traders despite there being no money trail linking NSEL, the company and its promoters to the alleged diversion of funds.

The case dates back to July 2013, when NSEL defaulted on payments to investors amounting to around ₹5,600 crore, triggering the collapse of the commodity exchange. While some payouts have been made over the years, larger investors have continued to await settlement of their dues.

NSEL was conceived as an electronic marketplace for agricultural commodities, intended to eliminate middlemen and improve price transparency. However, investigators alleged that the exchange’s management colluded with a group of sellers to facilitate trades in commodities that did not exist, defrauding around 13,000 investors of approximately ₹5,600 crore.

The ED’s investigation, based on the EOW’s September 2013 first information report (FIR), alleged that the accused conspired to defraud investors by inducing them to trade on the NSEL platform. They allegedly created forged documents, including bogus warehouse receipts, falsified accounts and committed criminal breach of trust.

The Thursday court order said that the ED had initially strongly opposed the application filed the applicants (63 Moons Technologies Ltd and a representative on behalf of the NSEL Investors Forum) but later through an additional affidavit it gave its ‘no objection’ to the plea for monetisation of attached assets to the extent of ₹1,950 crore with a rider. Its ‘no objection’ should not be construed as an admission on the part of the prosecution regarding the legal character or ownership or status of any property or as an admission that particular property constitutes or does not constitute proceeds of the crime or as waiver of any right of the prosecution, the ED told the court.

According to ED sources, funds collected from investors were allegedly diverted towards real estate investments, repayment of outstanding debts and other activities, even as the platform facilitated trading in commodities that allegedly did not exist.

As part of its investigation, the ED’s Mumbai unit provisionally attached immovable properties belonging to various NSEL defaulters, including assets in Mumbai, Delhi and Rajasthan.