The Enforcement Directorate has arrested three more people, including a chartered accountant, in a Goa “digital arrest” cyber fraud case in which a woman was allegedly coerced into transferring ₹2.60 crore. The latest arrests have taken the total number of people arrested in the case to five.
How was the Goa woman allegedly cheated of ₹2.60 crore?
The ED investigation stems from an FIR dated June 9, 2025, registered by the Cyber Crime Police Station, North Goa.
According to the agency, the victim was kept on a video call and made to believe that she was under criminal investigation. She was allegedly coerced into transferring ₹2.60 crore into accounts falsely described as “Secret Supervision Accounts”.
The ED said the money subsequently entered an organised network allegedly created to receive proceeds of cyber fraud as banking credits, convert the funds into cash and then convert the cash into foreign currency through companies holding Full Fledged Money Changer licences from the Reserve Bank of India.
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Who has been arrested and what does the ED allege?
The ED’s Panaji Zonal Office arrested chartered accountant Bhushan Suryakant Moye, Vilas Narayan Pawar and Shailesh Dagdu Chavan on August 27 under Section 19 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.
A Special Court under the PMLA in Goa remanded the three accused to ED custody until September 1. Fahim Moin Hussain Sayed and Naim Mueen Sayyed had earlier been arrested on August 23.
The agency alleged that Moye incorporated 21 companies in the network using identity documents supplied to him. It further alleged that he handled these companies and their 43 dummy directors as a single group, including while filing their income-tax returns.
According to the ED, Pawar arranged RTGS entries through which the alleged tainted funds reached accounts linked to the network. Chavan allegedly supplied cash against those transfers.
How large is the alleged money-laundering network?
The ED said the funds were fragmented across more than 400 beneficiary accounts and routed into companies whose directors on record were people of limited means, while the accounts were allegedly operated by others.
The agency said accounts linked to these entities are connected to 330 victim complaints and 163 FIRs across more than 20 states and Union Territories.
Reported losses associated with these complaints and FIRs stand at ₹417.49 crore, according to the ED. The agency further said the accounts have recorded banking transactions exceeding ₹27,850 crore.
The premises of the three latest accused were searched on August 21. The ED alleged that laundering activity continued after searches conducted on July 17 and until days before the August 23 arrests, leading to further arrests and custodial interrogation.
About the author — Ayesha Aayat writes on cybercrime, digital safety, and emerging online threats. Her work focuses on public awareness, legal clarity, and technology-driven risks.
