Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Panaji Zonal Office, has conducted search operations on 09.09.2025 and 10.09.2025 at 13 residential and commercial premises across Goa and Hyderabad in the case of Yeshwant Sawant & Ors. The searches were carried out in connection with the illegal land grabbing of Communidade lands in Goa, under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
ED initiated investigation on the basis of FIR registered by the Goa Police under various sections of IPC, 1860 concerning the illegal acquisition of land belonging to the Communidade of Anjuna.
ED investigation and search operation revealed that the accused persons had illegally mutated more than 3,50,000 sq. meters of land located at prime areas of Goa like Anjuna and Assagaon etc in their names using forged old documents, which were submitted to the concerned authorities to facilitate the mutation process. Further, a portion of these properties were sold to various persons generating additional Proceeds of Crime (POC) to the tune of crores of rupees. The total market valuation of the implicated land parcels illegally grabbed by the accused persons is likely to exceed Rs. 1,200 Crore.
During the search operations, cash amounting to approximately Rs. 72 Lakh was seized, and seven high-end vehicles viz. Porsche Cayman, BMW 650 L. Range Rover, Mercedes Benz, BMW M5, Audi A-6 etc were seized. Multiple bank accounts/fixed deposits belonging to the individuals involved in these transactions were also frozen. Various incriminating documents related to these land transactions were also recovered and seized during the operation.
The ongoing investigation is likely to expose a wider network of persons engaged in illegal land grabbing across Goa.
Further investigation is under progress.