New Delhi, May 2 -- Union minister of state for finance Pankaj Chaudhary on Friday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led central government has empowered the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to combat financial crimes such as money laundering, hawala transactions, benami properties and corporate frauds, and not to target individuals. The minister said this in his address at the ED's 70th foundation day in the national Capital on Friday. "ED has been given powers to combat financial crimes, money laundering and not to target anyone. These powers were needed because crimes such as hawala, benami properties, money laundering and terror funding were increasing in the country," he said. Addressing the event, ED director Rahul Navin said that the nature of financial offences has shifted from bank frauds and corporate scams to cryptocurrency fraud, cyber-enabled crimes, terror financing and narcotics trafficking. "We have accorded high priority to narcotics-related investigations, adopting a targeted financial disruption strategy to trace illicit proceeds and dismantle drug networks at their financial roots," Navin said. Navin said that ED, which has a conviction rate of 94%, has around 2,400 cases pending before the courts. The ED director said he was confident that the cases would result in the conviction of the accused. Additional solicitor general SV Raju in his address on the issue said that ED should not treat the court acquitting accused in predicate offences as the end of the road and should explore legal options. "ED should not treat such outcomes as the end of the road and should explore legal options," he added. "Look at the discharge, find the reason.maybe the predicate agency lacks investigation. Discharge according to me will not prevent further investigation," Raju said. A predicate offence is one registered by police or another agency based on which the PMLA probe is conducted by the ED....