Team Goemkarponn
New Delhi / Panaji:
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached immovable properties valued at over Rs 60 crore in Goa in connection with a money laundering investigation targeting Estevan D’Souza and associates, officials said Tuesday.
In a statement, the agency said the assets, comprising multiple land parcels situated in Village Pilerne, Bardez taluka, were held in the name of Rosa Maria D’Souza, grandmother of the prime accused. Investigators allege these properties were unlawfully acquired through forged sale deeds and fabricated affidavit-cum-No Objection Certificates (NOCs), enabling the illegal transfer of title and ownership.
“The provisional attachment order has been issued under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002,” the ED said, adding that the estimated value of the attached assets is Rs 60.05 crore.
This fresh action comes months after an earlier attachment order dated November 8, 2023, through which assets worth Rs 11.82 crore were frozen. That earlier order was confirmed by the Adjudicating Authority under the PMLA on April 8, 2024.
The money laundering probe stems from multiple First Information Reports (FIRs) registered by Goa Police against Estevan D’Souza and others for alleged offences under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including cheating, forgery, and criminal conspiracy. According to ED officials, the accused used forged documentation to fraudulently claim ownership and subsequently transfer valuable land parcels.
Officials believe the accused created a network of fake sellers, fabricated historical land records, and submitted manipulated affidavits to revenue and registration authorities to regularise the transfers. The proceeds of these transactions were later layered and integrated into other assets, the agency claims.
Further investigations are underway to trace additional assets suspected to have been acquired using the laundered funds.
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