New Delhi, August 25: The Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Panaji Zonal Office, has arrested Fahim Moin Hussain Sayed and Naim Mueen Sayyed in connection with a money laundering investigation linked to a “digital arrest” fraud in Goa. The two were arrested on August 23 under Section 19 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. They were produced before the Special Court (PMLA) in Goa on August 24 and have been remanded to ED custody for five days, up to August 29.
The investigation stems from an FIR registered by the Cyber Crime Police Station, North Goa, after a Goa resident was allegedly subjected to a digital arrest. She was made to believe she was under investigation and was kept under continuous surveillance through a video call. She was subsequently coerced into transferring Rs 2.60 crore between May 21 and June 2, 2025, into accounts described to her as “Secret Supervision Accounts”.
According to the ED, the money was moved through an organised network, initially through dormant and newly opened bank accounts and later across more than 400 beneficiary accounts through transfers, cash withdrawals, self-cheques and payment gateways.
The trail led to commodity, trading, travel and foreign-exchange entities whose banking transactions exceeded Rs 27,850 crore, while around Rs 2,904 crore was deposited in cash. Of this, Rs 584.70 crore was deposited through 61,448 transactions at Bulk Note Acceptance Machines.
The ED said the accounts are linked to 330 victim complaints and 163 FIRs across 20 States and Union Territories, involving reported losses of Rs 417.49 crore. Searches at premises in Mumbai and Goa led to the seizure of Rs 3.25 crore in cash and freezing of accounts holding over Rs 30 crore.
