In a significant development related to a massive land fraud case in Goa, the Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Panaji Zonal Office, has provisionally attached 19 immovable properties with a total area of more than 5 lakh square meters in the luxury areas of Anjuna, Assagaon, and Ucassaim. The move under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, carries a value of close to ₹1,268.63 crore, thereby, in the recent past, becoming the most substantial seizure in the state. The property attachment order was given on 27 November 2025 after several months of joint investigation.
According to the ED, the properties were allegedly acquired using forged and fabricated land documents, including Aforamento and Allotment Certificates, Certificates of Final Possession, Auto de Demarcação (demarcation certificates), historical deeds of sale, deeds of gift, and other falsified records. Investigators believe that the operation was conducted by a network of individuals led by Shivshankar Mayekar, who is accused of orchestrating a highly organised cartel focused on targeting vulnerable land parcels owned by Communidades and private individuals.
This attachment follows earlier search operations conducted on 9 September 2025 and 10 October 2025, during which the ED seized bank accounts and other assets totalling ₹12.85 crore. The investigation was originally triggered by an FIR filed by the Goa Police against Yeshwant Sawant and others under several sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860.
The case centred around fraudulent mutation of land belonging to the Communidade of Anjuna, specifically Survey No. 496/1-A, where forged documents were allegedly used to change land ownership records. The accused later sold parts of this land to unsuspecting third parties, generating what authorities describe as significant Proceeds of Crime (POC).
The ED's probe covicted Mayekar as the main architect of the conspiracy, alleging that he bought a lot of land in Goa by registering the properties under the names of his friends, relatives, and some people he hired as frontmen. The ED took him into custody on October 1, 2025, and he is still in judicial custody. The officials say that the extent of the illegal activities revealed till now points to a deeply entrenched, tightly coordinated plan that has been going for a long time, which was devised by several persons and involved sophisticated ways of tampering with documents.
Additional investigation has led to the discovery that there are also five FIRs against the accused group in which they are charged with committing similar illegal land acquisitions in the Anjuna and Assagaon regions. A lot of dubious land parcels have been identified for the next phase of the probe in which the officers are determining if the properties were also obtained through the use of falsified documentation. In compliance with the PMLA information-sharing provisions, the details of these properties are being shared with the other law-enforcement agencies that are involved in this matter.
The group, as per the ED, had a modus operandi that mainly revolved around the following activities: locating lands that were either vulnerable to exploitation or abandoned; manufacturing all sorts of counterfeit titles like sale deeds and gift deeds; and also fabricating certificates as if they were issued by Communidades or the Administrator of Communidades.
Afterward, these fabricated documents were being handed in to the government departments for changing the land records by cheating the authorities. After the change of records, these lands were again sold at a fast rate by the frontmen who were selected thus money was made further in the illegal way.
Repeatedly the ED said that the enquiries are still going on and there will be more properties or people that will be investigated as the evidence is found. The case is expected to have a big effect on the system of land governance and the fight against fraud in Goa.
Image source- enforcementdirectorate.gov.in
.png)