PANAJI
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has intensified its crackdown in one of the widely discussed land-grabbing cases, provisionally attaching three immovable properties worth Rs 6.27 crore in connection with the alleged usurpation of ancestral land belonging to Arjuna awardee of Goan origin Dr Otilia Mascarenhas.
In a statement on Friday, the Enforcement Directorate Panaji Zonal Office said the properties were attached under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, as part of an ongoing money-laundering investigation against Estevan D’Souza and his associates.
With the latest attachment, the total value of assets attached in the land grab case has jumped to about Rs 78.14 crore.
“The investigation was launched on the basis of FIRs registered by the Goa Police at the Porvorim Police Station and the Economic Offences Cell, Goa, under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 relating to criminal conspiracy, cheating, impersonation and forgery.
The probe revealed that D’Souza, along with Moses Fernandes and Mohammed Suhail, allegedly conspired with others to fraudulently grab several immovable properties across Goa by impersonating original owners and using forged documents, including fake sale deeds, fabricated identity credentials and forged powers of attorney,” the ED said.
As per the investigation so far, the accused persons also allegedly induced buyers and collected money by fraudulently executing sale deeds and agreements in respect of these illegally acquired properties.
Earlier in the investigation, the agency had attached properties worth Rs 11.82 crore and Rs 60.05 crore that were allegedly acquired through similar fraudulent means in the names of the accused and their family members. These attachments have since been confirmed by the adjudicating authority under the anti-money laundering law.
The ED further said it had filed a prosecution complaint against D’Souza and others before the Special Court under the PMLA in Goa for the offence of money laundering arising from the scheduled offences. The court has taken cognisance of the complaint and the case is currently under trial.
The agency also found that three additional immovable properties were fraudulently mutated in the names of family members using forged documents. The ED said these assets, valued at Rs 6.27 crore, constitute “proceeds of crime” under the law and have now been provisionally attached.
Further investigation in the case is in progress, the agency said.
earlier in 2023, the ED had provisionally attached another set of eight immovable properties in possession of D'Souza, Fernandes and Samir Korgaonkar worth Rs 11.82 crore.
