The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has launched a major crackdown in a money laundering investigation linked to a ₹2.6 crore digital arrest cyber fraud, conducting coordinated searches at 20 locations across Goa, Mumbai, Delhi, and Kolkata. During the operation, investigators seized substantial amounts of cash, foreign currency, gold, documents related to immovable properties, and material connected to shell companies. The agency has also frozen more than 400 bank accounts suspected of being used to channel the proceeds of cybercrime.
The action is part of an investigation based on FIR No. 17/2025 registered by the Goa Cyber Crime Police Station. According to the ED, preliminary findings indicate the existence of an interstate financial network that allegedly routed the proceeds of cyber fraud through multiple bank accounts and fictitious business entities.
During the searches, the agency recovered ₹80 lakh in cash, foreign currency valued at approximately ₹1.24 crore, gold worth around ₹1.30 crore, and documents relating to immovable properties valued at nearly ₹14 crore. Investigators also seized around 100 rubber stamps linked to shell companies, which were allegedly used to facilitate the creation and operation of fake business entities and lend legitimacy to financial transactions.
According to the investigation, the senior citizen was contacted through multiple phone calls and WhatsApp messages by fraudsters posing as officials of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The accused allegedly threatened the victim with a fabricated legal case and a so-called “digital arrest,” coercing the transfer of ₹2.6 crore into multiple bank accounts.
The ED believes the case extends beyond a single cyber fraud incident and may be part of a wider financial network involving shell companies, multiple bank accounts, and associates operating across different states to launder criminal proceeds.
Investigators are examining the seized banking records, digital evidence, and property documents to identify the ultimate beneficiaries of the funds, the individuals controlling the shell companies, and other members of the interstate network. A detailed forensic analysis of the frozen bank accounts and their transaction history is also underway.
According to cybersecurity experts associated with the Future Crime Research Foundation, digital arrest scams rely on psychological manipulation, with fraudsters impersonating government officials to intimidate victims into transferring money. The stolen funds are then rapidly layered through multiple bank accounts and shell companies, making them significantly more difficult to trace. Experts say robust financial monitoring, timely detection of suspicious banking transactions, and close coordination among investigative agencies are essential to disrupting such organised cybercrime networks.
The ED said the investigation is continuing and is expected to expand further based on the analysis of the seized digital and financial evidence. Authorities are working to identify additional individuals, shell companies, and bank accounts linked to the network, as well as trace the final beneficiaries of the allegedly laundered funds.
