ED Arrests Two in Goa Digital Arrest Case; Probe Uncovers Cyber-Fraud Network With Links to 163 FIRs Across 20 States
The Enforcement Directorate (ED), Panaji Zonal Office, has arrested two people in connection with a digital arrest cyber fraud case involving a resident of Goa. Fahim Moin Hussain Sayed and Naim Mueen Sayyed were arrested on August 23, 2026, under Section 19 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
Both accused were produced before the Special Court (PMLA) in Goa on August 24 and remanded to ED custody for five days, until August 29, 2026.
The investigation stems from an FIR registered by the Cyber Crime Police Station in North Goa after a woman was allegedly targeted through a digital arrest scam. According to the ED, the victim was made to believe that she was under investigation, kept under continuous surveillance through a video call and pressured into transferring ₹2,60,33,634 between May 21 and June 2, 2025. The money was transferred to bank accounts falsely presented as “Secret Supervision Accounts”.
The ED’s investigation has uncovered an organised network allegedly designed to convert cyber-fraud proceeds received through bank accounts into cash and subsequently into foreign currency. The agency found that companies holding Full Fledged Money Changer licences issued by the Reserve Bank of India were allegedly used as part of this process.
Investigators found that the victim’s money was moved within hours through an initial layer of dormant and newly opened bank accounts. It was then split across more than 400 beneficiary accounts through bank transfers, cash withdrawals, self-cheques and payment gateways. The money trail eventually led to an interconnected network of commodity, trading, travel and foreign-exchange businesses.
According to the ED, these entities have collectively carried out banking transactions exceeding ₹27,850 crore and deposited approximately ₹2,904 crore in cash. Of this amount, around ₹584.70 crore was deposited through 61,448 separate transactions using Bulk Note Acceptance Machines at multiple locations. The agency said the scale and pattern of these cash deposits were inconsistent with normal business operations.
The investigation has also linked the bank accounts of these entities to 330 victim complaints and 163 FIRs registered across 20 States and Union Territories, involving reported losses of ₹417.49 crore.
In 101 of these complaints, investigators found that money belonging to a single victim had been routed through two or more entities within the same network during the same fraud. According to the ED, this indicates that the accounts functioned as a common pool rather than as independent business accounts.
The agency further alleged that several companies involved in routing the funds were incorporated in the names of people with limited financial means, including employees, drivers and residents of single-room tenements. Although these individuals were listed as company directors, the ED suspects that the actual control of the companies and their bank accounts remained with other persons.
As part of the investigation, the ED conducted searches at 20 premises in Mumbai and Goa on July 17, 2026, followed by searches at additional locations on August 21. During these operations, officials seized cash amounting to ₹3.25 crore and froze bank accounts linked to the suspected syndicate containing balances exceeding ₹30 crore. Digital devices, books of accounts, records and statutory registers were also seized and are being examined.
The ED has also issued an important warning to the public against digital arrest scams. It clarified that no investigating or law-enforcement agency in India places individuals under “digital arrest”, conducts investigations through video calls or asks people to transfer money to accounts for verification or supervision.
Anyone receiving such demands should disconnect the call immediately and report the incident through the national cybercrime helpline 1930 or the official portal, www.cybercrime.gov.in.
News Source : Directorate of Enforcement (ED) – Official Press Release, Government of India
