The Enforcement Directorate has opened an investigation into two foreign entities over an alleged attempt to interfere in India’s domestic affairs, after tracing a transfer of $1 million to a firm in the United Kingdom with links to India. The ED foreign funding probe centres on money that investigators say moved through six countries before reaching people and organisations in India. Officials said the agency has identified the firms behind the transfers and is now checking how the funds were layered across accounts in Germany, Dubai, Lithuania, Canada, Saint Kitts and Nevis and the UK.
The agency has named TCC Digital Markets Ltd, a firm registered in the tax haven of Saint Kitts and Nevis, as the company through which the funds reached India. Investigators believe the money was sent in the form of a grant, in two tranches, to entities and individuals in India. The ED foreign funding probe has also traced the money back to its source, a trust based in Germany.
How the ED foreign funding probe traced the money
The Dr Matthias Karl Vogt Trust of Germany has been identified as the actual source of the $1 million, according to a senior official aware of the probe. The trust first sent the funds to XBase Digital UAB, a company in Lithuania, a step investigators say was taken to get around German law. From there, the money moved through a chain of accounts before it reached the UK.
An undated letter from Dr Matthias Vogt, found during the early stages of the investigation, stated that the payment was made in digital currency. Intelligence gathered by the agency suggests the digital assets had come through hawala, or illegal money transfers, to Dubai and to the Lithuanian firm before they were moved to the UK. The UK firm that received the money held it in an account with Airwallex (UK) Ltd, where $1 million arrived between February and March 2026.
What the ED foreign funding probe found in the UK accounts
The UK-based firm received the $1 million in its Airwallex account between February and March 2026, officials said. The money then passed to TCC Digital Markets Ltd, which is registered in Saint Kitts and Nevis. From there, investigators say, the funds were distributed in India under the guise of a grant. The ED foreign funding probe is now examining who received the money in India and what it was used for.
A second transaction has also come under scrutiny. A Canadian-registered firm, ZBase Digital Inc, is reported to have transferred $500,000 to the same Airwallex account in February. That would take the total under examination to $1.5 million. Officials are working with the UK payment platform to confirm the details of both transfers, and the combined figure is still being verified.
What happens next in the ED foreign funding probe
The investigation is still at an early stage. The agency has not released details of the specific interference it alleges, and it has not named the recipients in India. Officials said the focus for now is the money trail: how the funds were layered through accounts in different countries, and whether the transfers broke Indian law on foreign funding. The ED foreign funding probe will also look at whether the grant route was used to hide the origin of the money.
Foreign funds sent to Indian entities are governed by rules that require disclosure of the source and purpose of the money, and the Enforcement Directorate investigates suspected breaches of those rules. The ED foreign funding probe is being run under those powers, and officials said the agency will coordinate with authorities in the countries where the money passed through. The use of Saint Kitts and Nevis, a tax haven, has drawn the attention of investigators, who say such jurisdictions are often used to move funds without leaving a clear trail.
The agency is coordinating with the UK payment platform to confirm the account details and the timing of the transfers. For now, the ED foreign funding probe remains open, with officials saying more details will follow as the trail is checked.