AUGUSTO RODRIGUES
The Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Goa Zone, has intensified its crackdown on alleged land grab kingpin Mohammed Suhail while widening its investigation into suspect ed money laundering oper ations in South Goa, includ ing a bank fraud involving gold loans. The Principal District and Sessions Judge, North Goa, after taking cogni sance of offences under Sections 3 and 4 of the Pre vention of Money Launder ing Act (PMLA), 2002, has summoned Suhail to ap pear on February 18, 2026. Suhail, currently lodged in judicial custody at Colvale Central Jail, was produced before the court via video conference. The offence pertains to a case charge sheeted by the Special In vestigation Team (SIT) of Goa Police arising from FIR No 64/2022 dated July 23, 2022, registered by the Crime Branch. Suhail was arrested by the ED in September 2025 after allegedly jumping bail and has since remained under investigation for his suspected involvement in over 52 illegally acquired properties collectively val ued at approximately Rs 232.73 crore. In the present case, ED investigations reveal that the accused allegedly forged a birth certificate to create a fictitious person named ‘Malwin G Lobo’ and fabricated death cer tificates of the legitimate property owners. Accord ing to an ED statement, the forged documents were used to prepare a false Deed of Succession and ex ecute a fraudulent Power of Attorney (PoA) in favour of an associate of Suhail. The property was subsequently transferred to Suhail’s wife through a sale deed dated September 29, 2010, and later sold to Shaikh Salim on April 15, 2011. Even as the ED tightens its noose around land grab cases, it has also launched investigations in South Goa based on FIR No 09/2022 registered on October 7, 2022, by the Economic Of fences Cell (EOC) of Goa Police. The case pertains to an alleged conspiracy by two individuals to cheat UCO Bank by fraudulently se curing gold loans from its South Goa branches in Ver na, Fatorda and Margao.
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The agency has provisionally attached properties worth approximately Rs 1.17 crore in connection with the case. An ED official stated that illegally obtained bank funds were allegedly laundered to generate further unaccounted wealth. The official declined to disclose the number of cas es under investigation in South Goa but said several land grab cases are currently being probed, adding that while land grabbing remains a serious concern in the state, other forms of money laundering are also emerging. In what is described as the first ED investigation involv ing a bank with branches in South Goa, the agency alleged that one of the accused secured 32 gold loans in the names of 20 individuals by pledging fake gold ornaments. The sec ond accused, serving as an empanelled gold valuer, alleg edly misused his position to certify the fake ornaments as genuine, thereby enabling the fraud. After the loans were disbursed, the funds were allegedly diverted to the personal savings accounts of the accused and used to purchase bullion and immovable properties. The attached assets include a benami commercial shop in Margao, bank balances and gold assets. An ED source maintained that while instances of bank fraud and alleged connivance by certain officials are not new, the agency remains committed to ensuring that no financial crime slips through its net.
