Panaji, Feb 13 (IANS) The Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) Panaji Zonal Office has filed a charge sheet under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, against Mohammed Suhail and others in connection with an alleged land grabbing and fraud case in Goa’s Anjuna.

The complaint was lodged on November 20, 2025, before the Principal District and Sessions Judge in north Goa at the Special PMLA Court in Merces.

On February 1, 2026, the court took cognisance of the offences under various provisions of the PMLA.

The ED initiated its probe based on charge sheet dated September 9, 2024, filed by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Goa Police, stemming from an FIR (first information report) dated July 23, 2022, registered at Panaji Crime Branch Police Station.

Investigations revealed that Mohammed Suhail, described as a habitual offender in multiple land grabbing cases, orchestrated a criminal conspiracy to fraudulently transfer property titles in Anjuna.

The modus operandi involved forging birth certificates to fabricate a fictitious person named ‘Malvin Lobo’, creating forged death certificates for rightful owners, executing a false deed of succession, and then issuing a fraudulent power of attorney in favour of an associate.

The property was subsequently transferred to Suhail’s wife via a sale deed dated September 29, 2010, and later sold to one Shaikh Salim on May 15, 2011.

The land was significantly undervalued in transactions to project proceeds of crime as legitimate, with cash flows exceeding the registered value used for personal gains.

Suhail was arrested by the ED on September 22, 2025, while already in judicial custody at Colvale Central Jail in a related case.

He was remanded to ED custody for 14 days following his production, after which he was sent to judicial custody, where he remains.

The charge sheet names Mohammed Suhail as the main accused and Anjum Shaikh (his wife) as the co-accused, among others.

During the February 1 hearing, Suhail appeared via video conferencing from jail and was represented by legal counsel.

This case is part of a larger crackdown on land mafias in Goa, where the ED has previously attached properties worth more than Rs 232 crore linked to Suhail’s syndicate and filed related complaints against him and dozens of others.

The agency continues its investigation to uncover the full extent of the laundering network and additional fraudulent acquisitions.

The development highlights ongoing efforts to dismantle organised land fraud syndicates that exploit forged documents to illegally seize prime coastal properties.

–IANS

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