New Delhi, May 28 -- The Centre on Wednesday restructured the cadre of the financial crimes investigation agency - Enforcement Directorate (ED), increasing its sanctioned strength by 60% - from current 2,029 personnel to 3,256, a move officials said was "much needed" considering the workload on it. According to a sanction order issued by the department of revenue, the government has revised the strength in ED's various executive ranks - from assistant enforcement officers to additional directors, who investigate and supervise the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) investigations. As of now, there were 1,229 officers in ED's executive ranks, which have now been increased to 2,288 officers. The government has also enhanced the strength of ED's legal cadre, from total prosecution officers to now 61. Besides, ED has been provided additional personnel in other cadres like - adjudication wing, ministerial cadre, security and support staff. As of March 31 this year, ED has registered a total 8,851 PMLA cases, arrested 1,187 individuals, filed 2,396 charge sheets and attached properties worth over Rs.2.36 lakh crore. It has also taken up 44,369 FEMA investigations till March this year. "This is a huge development. Considering the rise in cases of high-value money laundering cases, cybercrimes involving crypto-currencies, movement of funds by terrorists and white collar criminals through various channels within India and abroad, we needed more men," said an officer, who didn't wish to be named. In 2022, ED's former director Sanjay Mishra had sent a proposal to the government to increase the agency's strength by approximately three times - from 2,100 odd officers to 6,000 but that proposal was not considered by the government....