Panaji, September 24, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has provisionally attached an immovable property valued at Rs 4.20 crore in North Goa under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, in connection with an alleged land grab and money laundering case, the agency said on Thursday.
The attached property comprises a 5,000-square-metre land parcel bearing Survey No. 210/5 at Socorro village in Bardez taluka. It includes 11 subdivided plots measuring 4,086 square metres and a common area of 914 square metres.
The ED initiated its investigation based on an FIR registered by Porvorim Police following a complaint by a legal heir of the property’s original owner. The FIR includes allegations of cheating, impersonation and use of forged documents and is being investigated by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Goa Crime Branch.
According to the ED, the property originally belonged to the complainant’s late father and was allegedly usurped through inventory proceedings before a civil court.
Investigators found that it was allegedly falsely claimed that the father of two sisters residing in Pune was the same person as the deceased owner of the land. Based on the court order obtained through the claim, the property was subsequently mutated in the names of the two sisters.
The agency said a power of attorney relating to the property was obtained from the sisters and their husbands on February 17, 2018, by a Socorro resident.
Further investigation allegedly revealed that Rs 9 lakh had been transferred through banking channels to one of the sisters on January 22, 2018, by an individual who later purchased plots from the property. The ED said the payment was made before the power of attorney was executed and more than a year before the inventory proceedings that purportedly created the ownership rights.
The ED alleged that the land was subsequently subdivided into 11 plots without planning permission and sold between 2018 and 2020 to nine buyers through a chain of brokers. The sale deeds were executed by John Paul Valles as the power-of-attorney holder.
Investigators found that five sale deeds executed in 2018 referred to inheritance through inventory proceedings that, according to the ED, had not yet taken place.
The deeds showed an aggregate sale consideration of Rs 63.65 lakh, while the actual payments were approximately Rs 1.49 crore, largely made in cash and through cheques with blank payee details. The fair market value of the plots sold was estimated at Rs 3.43 crore.
Earlier, the ED had conducted searches under Section 17 of the PMLA at eight locations in Goa and Pune on July 4, 2025. During the searches, the agency seized digital devices and documents.
Further investigation in the case is underway.
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