ED Arrests Three More in Goa ‘Digital Arrest’ Cyber Fraud Case
The Enforcement Directorate (ED), Panaji Zonal Office, has arrested three more people in connection with a “digital arrest” cyber fraud case involving a Goa resident who was allegedly forced to transfer more than ₹2.60 crore.
Bhushan Suryakant Moye, Vilas Narayan Pawar and Shailesh Dagdu Chavan were arrested on August 27, 2026, under Section 19 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. The Special Court (PMLA), Goa, has remanded them to ED custody until September 1.
With these arrests, the number of people arrested in the case has risen to five. Fahim Moin Hussain Sayed and Naim Mueen Sayyed were arrested earlier on August 23.
The ED launched its investigation based on FIR No. 17/2025, registered by the Cyber Crime Police Station, North Goa, on June 9, 2025.
According to the agency, the victim was kept on a video call and made to believe that she was under investigation for a criminal offence. She was allegedly intimidated and coerced into transferring ₹2,60,33,634 into bank accounts described to her as “Secret Supervision Accounts.”
The ED investigation allegedly uncovered an organised network designed to receive money generated through cyber fraud, convert the funds into cash and subsequently convert the cash into foreign currency through companies holding Full Fledged Money Changer licences issued by the Reserve Bank of India.
The agency said the proceeds were spread across more than 400 beneficiary bank accounts and subsequently routed through companies whose official directors were allegedly individuals with limited financial means. According to the ED, the accounts were actually operated by other persons, allowing the proceeds of crime to be projected as legitimate funds.
The ED further said that accounts belonging to these entities have surfaced in 330 victim complaints and 163 FIRs registered across more than 20 states and Union Territories. The reported losses in these cases amount to ₹417.49 crore, while the entities are alleged to have carried out banking transactions exceeding ₹27,850 crore.
The agency alleged that chartered accountant Bhushan Suryakant Moye incorporated 21 companies within the network using identity documents provided to him. He allegedly managed the companies and their 43 dummy directors as a single group and handled their income-tax filings collectively.
Vilas Narayan Pawar allegedly arranged the RTGS transactions through which the tainted funds were transferred into the network’s accounts, while Shailesh Dagdu Chavan allegedly arranged cash against those transfers.
The ED said the premises of all three accused were searched on August 21, 2026. According to the agency, the alleged laundering activities continued even after earlier searches conducted on July 17 and remained active until shortly before the arrests on August 23.
The agency said their arrests were necessary for custodial interrogation and to investigate the wider money-laundering network.
Further investigation is underway.
News Source : Information for this article was gathered from a variety of reliable news outlets.
