India News | ED Attaches over Rs 200-crore Assets in Goa Land 'scam'
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday said it has attached properties worth more than Rs 200 crore located in prime locations of Goa as part of a money laundering investigation linked to a land 'scam' involving a man who unsuccessfully contested the 2022 assembly polls.
New Delhi, Jul 30 (PTI) The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday said it has attached properties worth more than Rs 200 crore located in prime locations of Goa as part of a money laundering investigation linked to a land 'scam' involving a man who unsuccessfully contested the 2022 assembly polls.
A provisional order was issued on July 28 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to attach the properties. They are worth Rs 212.85 crore, the federal probe agency said.
"The probe pertains to a conspiracy of land grabbing and forgery perpetrated by an organised criminal syndicate led by Rohan Harmalkar and his accomplices," it said in a statement.
Harmalkar was arrested by the ED in June and he is currently lodged in jail under judicial custody. He had contested the 2022 assembly polls but lost.
The ED case stems from two FIRs registered by the Goa Police against Harmalkar and others on charges of forgery, cheating, impersonation, and use of counterfeit documents to fraudulently acquire land parcels in North Goa.
The ED alleged that Harmalkar, in active conspiracy with Alcantro D'Souza and others, orchestrated a meticulously planned "criminal enterprise" to misappropriate multiple high-value properties loacted in Anjuna, Revora, Nadora, Camurlim, Parra, and other adjoining areas falling within Bardez Taluka and Mapusa City.
Investigation found, it claimed, use of forged genealogical records, fabricated sale deeds, counterfeit wills, manipulated inventory proceedings and other fraudulent documents by the accused, to falsely claim title over valuable immovable properties and to camouflage the same as legitimately held assets.
A part of the alleged proceeds of crime were received "directly" by Harmalkar, D'Souza and others and subsequently routed through accounts of their family members and associates, the agency said.
The "illicit" gains so acquired were routed through bank accounts of the key conspirators and their family members, thereby layering and integrating the tainted funds to project them as untainted, it added.
The agency said it was making efforts to trace and attach more assets, which may be substantially higher in value, in order to fully unravel the extent of the laundering operation.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)