Panaji, Goa – In a decisive crackdown on financial misconduct, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached assets worth approximately ₹1.17 crore linked to a massive bank fraud and money laundering scheme in Goa. The action targets properties acquired through deceitful gold loans from UCO Bank branches in Verna, Fatorda, and Margao.
The investigation stemmed from an FIR registered by Goa’s Economic Offences Cell on October 7, 2022, accusing Hemant Raikar and Gundu Kelvekar of orchestrating the scam. Kelvekar allegedly pledged fake gold jewelry under 20 different names to secure 32 gold loans, siphoning off funds that left the bank in crores of losses.
Raikar, a panel gold valuer for the bank, abused his position by certifying counterfeit ornaments as genuine gold in valuation reports. Once approved, the loan amounts were swiftly transferred to Kelvekar’s personal savings account. These proceeds funded purchases of bullion and real estate, with the total proceeds of crime estimated at ₹2.81 crore.
ED raids on September 5, 2025, at the residences and businesses of both accused yielded incriminating documents that solidified the fraud’s evidence. The attached assets, including movable and immovable properties, are deemed equivalent to the crime’s illicit gains under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
This attachment marks a significant step in holding the perpetrators accountable. The ED continues its probe, scrutinizing bank records, transaction trails, and potential accomplices to unravel the full extent of the network. Financial regulators and banks nationwide are watching closely as such cases underscore the vulnerabilities in gold loan disbursal processes.