The Panaji zonal office of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached immovable properties, with an estimated total value of over Rs 212 crore, located across the state in connection with an alleged land grab scam in Goa.
In a statement on Wednesday, the ED said the provisional attachment order was issued in connection with an ongoing investigation into a land-grabbing and forgery conspiracy perpetrated by an organised criminal syndicate allegedly led by one Rohan Harmalkar and his accomplices.
Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) leader and businessman Rohan Harmalkar was arrested by the ED on June 3 for allegedly hatching a conspiracy to illegally appropriate land through forged title deeds and selling several properties unlawfully. 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.
He was arrested after the ED carried out multiple raids on April 24 and 25 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). At the time, the ED said the searches uncovered “voluminous 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.
The ED said it initiated the investigation on the basis of two FIRs registered by the Goa Police against Harmalkar and other co-accused on charges of forgery, cheating, impersonation, and use of counterfeit documents to fraudulently acquire land parcels in North Goa. The ED alleged the “investigation revealed that Harmalkar, in active conspiracy with…others, orchestrated a meticulously planned criminal enterprise to misappropriate multiple high-value properties situated in Anjuna, Revora, Nadora, Camurlim, Parra, and other adjoining areas falling within Bardez taluka and Mapusa.”
“The PMLA investigation disclosed the use of forged genealogical records, fabricated sale deeds, counterfeit wills, manipulated inventory proceedings and other fraudulent documents, by the accused, to falsely claim title over valuable immovable properties and to camouflage the same as legitimately held assets thereby generating substantial Proceeds of Crime as defined under section 2(1)(u) of the PMLA,” the ED said.
The ED also alleged that a part of the proceeds of crime was received directly by Harmalkar and others, and was subsequently routed through the accounts of their family members and associates. “So far, multiple immovable properties constituting direct proceeds of crime, valued at over Rs 212.85 crore, have been identified and provisionally attached under the provisions of the PMLA, 2002,” it said.
