Cheating, forgery and fraud continue to dominate
PANAJI
Economic offences in Goa declined in 2023 compared with the previous year, with national data indicating that cheating, forgery and fraud continued to form the largest share of such crimes.
As per the National Crime Records Bureau data for the year 2023, the Goa police registered 155 cases of economic offences, a sharp drop from 260 in 2022. In 2021, the number stood at 131. With the state’s projected mid-year population at 15.8 lakh, the rate of economic offences worked out to 9.8 per lakh population.
A senior police officer said the figures show marginal improvement, but economic crimes remain a serious challenge.
Of the 155 offences recorded, 126 fell under forgery, cheating and fraud, whereas 28 cases were of criminal breach of trust and one case of counterfeiting.
Losses reported in breach of trust cases were mostly on the lower side, with 11 cases involving amounts below Rs 1 lakh and 15 cases between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 10 lakh. Only two cases involved sums between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 50 lakh.
In cheating and fraud, however, the amounts were far higher, with 24 cases involving less than Rs 1 lakh, while 34 fell in the Rs 1 lakh to Rs 10 lakh category. Another 12 cases reported losses between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 50 lakh, 10 between Rs 50 lakh and Rs 1 crore, eight between Rs 1 crore and Rs 10 crore, and two cases between Rs 10 crore and Rs 25 crore.
“High-value frauds are being reported more frequently. These are complex in nature and often require specialised investigation,” the officer added.
Figures also show that the police had a total of 449 cases of economic offences under investigation in 2023. Of these, 294 were carried forward from previous years and 155 were newly registered. No cases were reopened during the year. The chargesheeting rate stood at 41.3 per cent.
