The Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Panaji Zonal Office, car ried out extensive search operations at six loca tions across Goa, New Delhi and Chandigarh on October 10, 2025, under the Prevention of Mon ey Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, as part of its probe into a massive land scam involving Yeshwant Sawant and others. The searches were conducted at the premises of Umar Zahoor Shah and Neeraj Sharma, both partners of Thinking of You, and Rajesh Kumar, one of the directors of Purple Martini Entertainment Pvt Ltd. The ED’s investigation stems from an FIR filed by the Goa Police against Yeshwant Sawant and others for allegedly defrauding the Com munidade of Anjuna of prime land located at Survey No 496/1-A, Anju na. The accused are alleged to have fabricated documents to falsely claim ownership.
The documents included a Certificate of Pro visional Possession dated January 26, 1952, Proceedings of Demarcation dated January 16, 1958, and a Certificate of Final Possession dated September 24, 1952. These forged papers were reportedly used be fore the authorities to mutate the land in their names, after which portions of it were sold to third parties, generating massive proceeds of crime. This operation follows an earlier ED crack down on September 9, 2025, during which several land parcels fraudulently acquired by Shivshankar Mayekar and his associates were identified. These properties, spanning several lakh square metres, lie in high-val ue coastal belts such as Anjuna and Assagao in Bardez taluka. The estimated market val ue of the illegally grabbed land exceeds Rs 1,200 crore. During the earlier searches, the ED had seized around Rs 72 lakh in cash and seven luxury vehicles — including a Porsche Cay man, BMW 650 L, Range Rover, Mercedes Benz, BMW M5 and Audi A6. Multiple bank ac counts and fixed deposits linked to the accused were also frozen. Mayekar was subsequently arrested on Octo ber 1, 2025, for his role in the scam and remains in judicial custody. The latest round of searches led to the recovery of incriminating documents, in cluding Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) and lease agreements related to land parcels allegedly acquired through forged title deeds. These papers were exe cuted between key players in the scam and their associates. The ED is now examining the broader network of individuals involved and the full scale of the illegal land dealings in Goa. In a major digital trail breakthrough, the agency also discovered six decentralised cryp to wallets containing cryptocurrencies worth approximately 1.5 lakh USDT (around Rs 1.25 crore), which have been frozen. Notes and digital records recovered during the operation point to the alleged investment of unaccounted cash — reportedly generated from a prominent club in Goa — into the purchase of land connected to the accused. Further investigation is underway to trace the money trail and identify all beneficiaries of the multi-crore land scam
