ED attached 24 properties worth Rs 193cr in land grab case

Panaji: The directorate of enforcement (ED) in Panaji provisionally attached 24 immovable properties on Tuesday, located across Bardez, including Calangute, Assagao, Anjuna, Nerul, and Parra. These properties are worth over Rs 193 crore and connected with the alleged land grab cases in Goa.
With this, the total value of attached properties in the Goa land grab case stands at Rs 232.7 crore to date. The Provisional Attachment Order (PAO) was issued under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
This is the second provisional attachment in this case. Earlier, the ED attached 31 properties valued at Rs 39.2 crore in 2023, which was confirmed by the Adjudicating Authority (PMLA), New Delhi, on April 15, 2024.
The ED initiated the investigation based on multiple FIRs registered by the special investigation team (SIT) of Goa probing land grab cases. Goa police arrested several people for the fraudulent and illegal acquisition of land in Goa through forgery, cheating, and grabbing of immovable properties.
The ED investigation revealed that fraudsters created forged documents and deeds in the names of deceased individuals or ancestors. Using these forged documents as genuine, they fraudulently inserted their names or the names of associates into the land records maintained by govt of Goa.
“Subsequently, these illegally acquired properties were either sold to third parties, generating proceeds of crime, or transferred to associates through sham sale deeds without actual payment of consideration,” ED said.
“The 24 attached properties in the current PAO include properties sold to third parties, properties transferred to associates via sham deeds, and other properties identified subsequently, located in prime tourist hotspots in Bardez Taluka,” ED said.
A prosecution complaint was also filed on April 12, 2024, before the special court (PMLA), Mapusa, which has taken cognisance of the same.