The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached immovable properties worth Rs 212.85 crore in prime locations across Goa’s Bardez Taluka, including Anjuna, Revora, Nadora, Camurlim, Parra, and Mapusa City, under a Provisional Attachment Order (PAO) issued on July 28, 2025, as part of a money laundering investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. The probe targets a land grabbing and forgery syndicate allegedly led by Rohan Harmalkar, who was arrested on June 3, 2025, and remains in judicial custody. Harmalkar, a former independent candidate in the 2022 Goa Assembly elections from Cumbarjua and a 2024 Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) joiner, is accused of masterminding a Rs 1,600 crore land scam.
The ED’s investigation, initiated based on two FIRs by the Goa Police’s Special Investigation Team (SIT) and intelligence inputs, revealed that Harmalkar, in collusion with Alcantro (Estavan) D’Souza and others, orchestrated a “criminal enterprise” to illegally acquire high-value properties. The syndicate allegedly used forged genealogical records, fabricated sale deeds, counterfeit wills, and manipulated inventory proceedings to claim titles over properties, many owned by absent or deceased individuals, often targeting non-resident Goans or estates without legal heirs. These properties, spanning several lakh square meters in tourist hotspots, were sold to buyers from Delhi-NCR and Haryana, with proceeds laundered through benami entities, family accounts, and investments in real estate, luxury vehicles, and high-value assets.
The ED’s April 24–25, 2025, raids uncovered documents for properties worth Rs 1,000 crore, including Rs 600 crore in forged title deeds, with an additional Rs 193.49 crore attached on April 25, 2025, bringing the total to over Rs 405 crore since 2023, when 31 properties worth Rs 39.24 crore were attached. The SIT’s probe, backed by a 2022 Commission of Inquiry, identified 111 cases involving 1.5 lakh square meters, with forged Portuguese-era calligraphy deeds implicating Directorate of Archives and Archaeology staff. Harmalkar, previously arrested by Anjuna Police in November 2024 for assault, faces further scrutiny alongside 16 associates, including D’Souza, named in a June 6, 2025, ED FIR. The ED continues to trace additional assets, suspecting government official involvement, as public outrage grows over cultural and generational losses.
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