330 victims, Rs 400 crore: Goa digital arrest leads ED

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Sunday arrested two persons as part of a money laundering probe, stemming from a digital arrest case in Goa. The ED stated probe has uncovered a pan-India organised network of cyber fraudsters, whose accounts are subject of over 163 FIRs across 20 states and Union Territories and involving an aggregate loss of more than Rs 400 crore.

Arrested under section 19 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, Fahim Moin Hussain Sayed and Naim Mueen Sayyed were presented before a Goa court on Monday. The inquiry pertains to an FIR, lodged at cyber-crime law enforcement personnel station in Goa last year, where a local woman was allegedly coerced into transferring Rs.

2.6 crore in an alleged “digital arrest” case. For related coverage, explore our detailed analysis on Technology and Digital Systems.

Key Analysis and Detailed Timeline

The matter took place between May 21, 2025, and June 2, 2025, and the money was transferred into accounts falsely described to the victim as “secret supervision accounts”. Read | How Jet Airways case was used to con Delhi couple The ED stated inquiry has revealed that the money entered an “organised apparatus”, which existed to convert proceeds from cyber frauds, received as banking credits, first into cash and thereafter, into foreign currency.

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For this purpose, companies holding licences of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) were used as full-fledged money changers. “Investigation has revealed that the companies through which the proceeds were routed were incorporated in the names of persons of modest means, including employees, drivers and residents of single-room tenements, who were shown as directors, while the accounts and the affairs of the companies remained under the control of others,” the ED said.

'Network of commodity, trading, travel and forex entities' “The (Goa) victim’s funds were routed within hours through a first layer of dormant and newly-opened accounts and fragmented across more than 400 beneficiary accounts. The trail led to an interconnected network of commodity, trading, travel and forex entities, which have together undertaken banking transactions exceeding Rs 27,850 crore and deposited approximately Rs 2,904 crore in cash, including Rs 584.70 crore through 61,448 bulk note acceptance machine transactions at multiple locations,” the investigators stated.

Broader Impact and Sector Outlook

The ED stated inquiry has established that the accounts of these entities are the subject of 330 victim complaints and 163 FIRs across 20 States and Union Territories, involving an aggregate reported loss of Rs 417.49 crore. “In 101 of those complaints, the money of a single victim was routed into two or more entities of the same network.,” the ED said.

The agency stated searches were conducted under Section 17 of the PMLA Act at over 20 premises in Mumbai and Goa on July 17 and August 21. It stated Rs 3.25 crore in cash has been seized, along with digital devices, records and statutory registers, which are under examination.