In a significant crackdown on financial crimes, the Enforcement Directorate’s Panaji Zonal Office has filed a prosecution complaint against Mohammad Suhail and others in a major land grabbing and money laundering scandal in Goa. The court took cognizance of the case on January 2, 2026, recognizing the money laundering offense under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
The ED’s probe stems from a chargesheet submitted by Goa’s Special Investigation Team on January 9, 2024, linked to FIR No. 64/2022 registered at Crime Branch Police Station on July 23, 2022. Mohammad Suhail, identified as a habitual offender involved in multiple land grabbing incidents, allegedly orchestrated a criminal conspiracy to fraudulently seize land belonging to the complainant’s parents in Anjuna, Bardez, Goa.
To execute the scam, Suhail’s gang fabricated a fictitious identity ‘Malvin G. Lobo,’ complete with a fake birth certificate and forged death certificates for the real owners. Using these bogus documents, they created a false succession deed and a sham power of attorney, transferring the property to an associate. On September 29, 2010, a sale deed moved it to Suhail’s wife, and by April 15, 2011, it was sold to Sheikh Salim.
Investigators uncovered that the registered sale value was deliberately undervalued to legitimize proceeds of crime, with substantial cash transactions occurring off the books. ED arrested Suhail on September 22, 2025, after which he was remanded to judicial custody and remains incarcerated at Central Jail, Colvale.
During the January 2 hearing at the Principal District and Sessions Judge, North Goa, Suhail appeared via video conference, while his co-accused was represented by counsel. This action underscores ED’s relentless pursuit of money launderers disguising illicit gains through real estate manipulations. The case highlights the vulnerabilities in property documentation and the need for stricter verification processes in high-value land deals.