Latest news with #RohanHarmalkar
India Today
2 days ago
- India Today
Goa land scam case: Key accused sent to ED custody for forging sale deeds
Rohan Harmalkar, one of the key masterminds in the Goa Land Scam case, has been sent to Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody till June 18 following his arrest by the probe agency on June initiated investigation on the basis of FIRs registered by the Goa Police against Rohan Harmalkar and others under various sections of the IPC, 1860, for defrauding rightful property owners through fraudulent means, including impersonation, creation of fake documents, tampering with revenue records, properties, originally owned by individuals and family estates, were unlawfully sold without their consent, causing significant financial and legal distress to the victims. ED investigation revealed that Rohan Harmalkar is one of the key conspirators of the Goa Land Scam, orchestrating the forgery and manipulation of sale deeds for multiple properties. He has also impersonated legitimate heirs, counterfeited government stamps and used them as genuine to unlawfully acquire in April, search operations conducted by the ED discovered voluminous incriminating property documents indicating manipulation of land records and fraudulent transfers of high-value land parcels spanning several lakh square meters in prime tourist hotspots such as Anjuna, Arpora, and Assagao in Bardez Taluka, the searches and the post-search investigation, Rohan Harmalkar remained absconding. He was subsequently arrested on June In
Time of India
3 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
ED arrests ‘mastermind' in multi-crore Goa land scam
Panaji: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday arrested Rohan Harmalkar in connection with an alleged land scam in Goa. Harmalkar contested the state assembly polls in 2022 from the Cumbharjua constituency as an independent candidate. The ED issued five summonses to alleged mastermind Harmalkar to appear before it and join the investigation. He appeared before the ED on Tuesday and joined the investigation, but was arrested as he failed to cooperate. He was subsequently produced before a special court in Panaji and remanded in 14 days of ED custody. In April, the ED searched Harmalkar's office and residences in connection with an alleged land scam, and seized documents pertaining to immovable properties worth over Rs 600 crore. The operation also uncovered incriminating documents of properties — the current market value of which exceeds Rs 1,000 crore — including forged title deeds, indicating manipulation of land records and fraudulent transfers of high-value land parcels spanning several lakhs of square metres in places like Anjuna, Arpora and Assagao. On April 24, the ED registered a case against Harmalkar under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA). by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like تعرف على ما يؤثر على أسعار السيارات المستعملة وكيفية الاختيار بحكمة Visionary Echo ابحث الآن Undo Goa police also registered an FIR against him in connection with an alleged land grab case at Anjuna. The ED said the searches were conducted based on intelligence and subsequent financial investigation, which revealed that Harmalkar is a mastermind and the he, along with other associates, resorted to a large-scale conspiracy to illegally appropriate land belonging to rightful owners through fraudulent means, including impersonation, creation of fake documents, and tampering with revenue records. During the search, the ED also found that proceeds generated from the crime were laundered through various individuals and benami entities and finally invested in real estate, luxury vehicles, and other high-value assets. The ED said that the investigation is ongoing to trace the money trail, identify other beneficiaries, and the roles of other persons — including govt officials — connected with illegal property transactions.
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Business Standard
3 days ago
- Business
- Business Standard
ED arrests key accused Rohan Harmalkar in ₹1,000 crore Goa land scam
The alleged mastermind Rohan Harmalkar is charged with defrauding property owners using fake documents and tampering revenue records across prime tourist locations in Goa Bhagyashree Vaswani The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday arrested Rohan Harmalkar under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), identifying him as the key mastermind in a ₹1,000 crore land-grab scheme that defrauded property owners through impersonation, fabrication of documents, and manipulation of revenue records. A PMLA court remanded him to ED custody for 14 days. Harmalkar, who unsuccessfully contested the 2022 Goa Assembly elections from Cumbarjua as an independent candidate before joining the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP), is accused of illegally selling prime properties using forged documents without the knowledge or consent of the rightful owners, causing financial and legal distress to victims. In a statement, the ED described him as one of the key conspirators in the Goa land scam, stating that he orchestrated the forgery and manipulation of sale deeds for multiple properties. He also allegedly impersonated legitimate heirs, counterfeited government stamps, and used forged documents as genuine to unlawfully acquire land. Forgery uncovered in tourist hotspots The ED conducted searches at multiple locations in Goa last week in connection with the scam, which reportedly involved fraudulent transfers of high-value parcels of land in prominent tourist areas. During the raids, the agency seized documents related to properties worth ₹1,000 crore at current market value. These included forged title deeds indicating manipulation of land records and fraudulent transfers of large land parcels spanning several lakh square metres in prime locations such as Anjuna, Arpora, and Asagoan in Bardez Taluka.
Indian Express
3 days ago
- Business
- Indian Express
ED arrests ‘mastermind' of Goa land scam – MGP leader Rohan Harmalkar
The Enforcement Directorate Tuesday night arrested Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) leader and businessman Rohan Harmalkar, who is alleged to be a mastermind in a multi-crore land scam in Goa, for hatching a conspiracy to illegally appropriate land through forged title deeds and selling several properties unlawfully without the consent of their rightful owners. Harmalkar unsuccessfully contested the 2022 Goa Assembly election as an independent candidate from the Cumbarjua constituency after he was denied a ticket by the BJP. He joined the MGP in 2024. The arrest comes after ED carried out raids at multiple locations on April 24 and 25 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in connection with the alleged scam. Harmalkar was produced in a PMLA court in Goa Wednesday and remanded to ED custody for 14 days. He was previously named in two cases of land grabbing, which are being probed by the Goa police's Special Investigation Team (SIT). In November last year, he was arrested by the Goa police for allegedly assaulting a businessman in Arpora. The ED claimed the searches uncovered incriminating property documents, whose estimated current market value exceeds Rs 1,000 crore — including forged title deeds — indicating manipulation of land records and fraudulent transfers of high-value land parcels spanning several lakhs of square metres in prime tourist hotspots like Anjuna, Arpora and Assagao in Bardez Taluka. In a press statement on April 25, ED had said: 'The searches were conducted based on intelligence and subsequent financial investigation conducted in this case which revealed that one person namely Rohan Harmalkar is a key mastermind, who along with other associates resorted to a large-scale conspiracy to illegally appropriate land belonging to rightful owners through fraudulent means including impersonation, creation of fake documents, tampering with revenue records'. The agency alleged these properties, originally owned by individuals and family estates, were unlawfully sold without their consent, causing serious financial and legal distress to such victims. 'Additionally, original documents of immovable properties worth more than Rs 600 crore were seized during the search action. It was further unearthed during the search that the proceeds of crime generated were further laundered through various individuals and benami entities and finally invested into real estate, luxury vehicles and other high-value assets. Further investigation is ongoing to trace the money trail, identify other beneficiaries and the roles of other persons, including government officials connected with the process of illegal property transactions,' ED had said. The Goa government formed an SIT on June 15, 2022, to investigate cases of illegal land transfer and land grabbing using forged documents. The SIT probed 44 FIRs involving more than 100 properties – nearly 1.5 lakh square metres of land – and made 56 arrests (until December 2024), including some officials from the Archives Department. The state government appointed a Commission of Inquiry headed by former Bombay High Court judge Justice V K Jadhav (Retd) on September 9, 2022, to probe land-grabbing cases. The Indian Express had earlier reported the findings of the report of the Commission of Inquiry. The Inquiry report detailed how government records had been tampered with in a 'systematic and organised' manner and forged sale deeds with Portuguese-era calligraphy were inserted into the records, allegedly 'in connivance with the staff of the Directorate of Archives and Archaeology'.
Hindustan Times
29-04-2025
- Hindustan Times
ED attaches 24 more properties worth ₹193.5 crore in Goa land grab case
PANAJI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday said it has provisionally attached 24 properties valued at ₹193.5 crore in north Goa's Bardez Taluka in connection with multiple land grab cases registered by the special investigation team (SIT) of the state police. The Goa land grab cases are being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate based on FIRs lodged by the Goa Police Special Investigation Team in which the crime branch's special investigation team had registered 111 cases of land grabbing involving 93 parcels of land measuring 150,000 square metres across Goa. The cases involved fraudulent methods such as impersonation, forging documents, and tampering with revenue records including signing deeds in the name of dead people. In a statement on Tuesday, ED said 24 properties were provisionally attached under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. This is the second provisional attachment in this case. In 2023, ED attached 31 properties valued at Rs. 39.24 crore which was confirmed by the Adjudicating Authority (PMLA), New Delhi on April 15, 2024. According to the ED, its investigation revealed that fraudsters created forged documents and deeds in the names of deceased individuals or ancestors. 'Using these forged documents as genuine, they fraudulently inserted their names or the names of associates into the land records maintained by the Government of Goa. Subsequently, these illegally acquired properties were either sold to third parties, generating proceeds of crime, or transferred to associates through sham sale deeds without actual payment of consideration,' the federal agency said in the statement. The 24 attached properties include premises sold to third parties, properties transferred to associates via sham deeds and other properties identified subsequently, located in prime tourist hotspots in Bardez Taluka. The order comes days after the agency on April 25 raided a key accused Rohan Harmalkar and seized property documents worth ₹600 crore from his possession. The SIT has been investigating land grabbing cases in Goa, in which persons impersonating the original owners, some of whom were long dead, executed sale deeds to transfer prime properties in coastal villages in Goa to their own names or names of their associates which were then sold on to unsuspecting buyers for a high price. ED has also filed a prosecution complaint against Estevan D'Souza, an accused in the land grab scam who also unsuccessfully contested Goa Legislative Assembly elections. D'Souza along with another Mohammed Suhail is accused of searching for unattended properties where the actual owner of the property had either died without a legal heir or the legal heir was living abroad. After identifying the potential properties for cheating and fraud, they committed offences wherein they executed sale deed/irrevocable power of attorney by using forged documents, through impersonator(s) of legitimate owners; and undertook property transactions.
