Goa land scam: ED tightens noose on real estate company, raids many locations

The Panaji zonal team of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday again raided the houses and offices of Models Real Estate Developers and its partners in Goa under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). This action is part of the ongoing investigation into the illegal acquisition of valuable agricultural land in Karanjalem area.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had started this investigation on the basis of the FIR registered at Panaji Police Station. ED investigation has revealed that No. 44 (New 44A) of Karanjalem, P.T. The land of sheet number 162 actually belonged to the Tanu Gauns family, on which they had legal tenancy rights. It is alleged that a criminal conspiracy was hatched to grab this land.

Use of fake and forged documents

According to the ED, some officials of the Goa Archdiocese, the then official of the City Survey Office and late Peter Vaz, former partner of Models Real Estate Developers, were involved in this conspiracy. The accused together wrongly removed the name of the real tenant from Form ‘B’ of the city survey records through fake and forged documents. After this this land was illegally sold to Models Real Estate Developers. The company built a residential project named “Models Mystique” on this land, which generated huge amount of illegal earnings i.e. Proceeds of Crime.

What was found in the raid?

ED conducted searches at the houses of Diogo Nathan Vaz and Natalina Estela Vaz in Caranjalem and the registered office of the company in Santa Inez. During this period, many important documents were seized, including the sale agreement dated February 2, 2007, title deed of the property purchased in Dubai (UAE), documents related to the original tenancy rights related to the land, documents related to the estimated cost of apartment construction.

Investigation continues, further action will be taken

The ED official said that the seized digital devices have revealed contacts of international investors including UAE. There are also indications of alleged cash transactions. He said that investigation is going on in this matter. The devices and documents found during the raid are being investigated. Some clues have been found and work is being done on them. Further action will be taken after investigation.