Team Goemkarponn
PANAJI: The Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Panaji Zonal Office, has arrested Mumbai-based advocate Rashesh Bharatkumar Upadhyay alias Rashesh Shah for his alleged role in facilitating the release of bank accounts linked to a nationwide cyber fraud and money laundering network.
Upadhyay was arrested on October 24 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, after being intercepted at the boarding gate of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, Mumbai. He was allegedly attempting to leave for Delhi on an early-morning connecting flight without a return booking. The interception was carried out with the timely assistance of Mumbai Customs and the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).
The Special Court (PMLA), North Goa, has remanded him to ED custody until October 29.
The investigation began following an FIR registered by Goa Police in connection with a digital arrest fraud targeting a Goa resident and her husband. Fraudsters impersonating officials of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) allegedly kept the woman under continuous video surveillance, showed her a forged Supreme Court order and coerced the couple into transferring approximately Rs. 2.6 crore to accounts falsely described as “Secret Supervision Accounts”.
The ED traced the proceeds through more than 400 mule accounts to a network of commodity, travel and foreign-exchange companies allegedly controlled by Fahim Moin Hussain Sayed and Naim Mueen Sayyed through dummy directors.
According to the investigation, the network conducted banking transactions worth nearly Rs. 28,000 crore and deposited approximately Rs. 2,900 crore in cash. Its bank accounts have surfaced in more than 300 victim complaints and over 160 FIRs across 20 States and Union Territories, involving reported losses exceeding Rs. 400 crore.
Investigators allege that Upadhyay acted as a key intermediary, arranging bribes to secure the unfreezing of bank accounts belonging to the network whenever law enforcement agencies froze them in connection with cyber fraud complaints. The payments were allegedly routed through angadiyas, or informal cash couriers.
He allegedly determined the amounts, collection points and onward payments. According to the ED, Upadhyay admitted to arranging the unfreezing of approximately 100 accounts for various agents, including one instance involving a payment exceeding Rs. 60 lakh.
The agency alleges that restoring access to these accounts enabled the network to continue handling proceeds generated through digital fraud. Upadhyay allegedly continued his dealings even after ED searches, including in relation to accounts frozen by the agency. He is also accused of deleting chats with co-accused persons and switching off his known mobile numbers before attempting to flee.
The ED further stated that although Upadhyay was enrolled as an advocate, he had never appeared or filed a vakalatnama on behalf of the co-accused or their companies. The agency alleges that he used his professional standing as a cover for brokering bribes and facilitating access to fraud proceeds.
The agency has also maintained that the protection afforded to advocate-client communications does not extend to communications made in furtherance of an illegal purpose or those evidencing the commission of a crime or fraud.
Upadhyay’s arrest is the seventh in the case. The ED had earlier arrested six persons, including the alleged controllers of the network, Fahim Moin Hussain Sayed and Naim Mueen Sayyed, along with agents accused of supplying banking entries to the network and arranging the release of frozen accounts.
Further investigation is underway to identify the officials who allegedly received the bribes, establish the role of angadiyas and other intermediaries, and trace the full extent of the proceeds of crime.
