ED seizes luxury vehicles in Goa 'illegal' land grab case

New Delhi, Sep 10 (PTI) The ED has seized seven luxury cars including brands like Porsche, Mercedes and Audi following raids in a money laundering case linked to an alleged Rs 1,200 crore land grabbing instance in Goa.

The case pertains to a person named Yeshwant Sawant apart from some others and the action was launched on Tuesday and it concluded on Wednesday.

A total of 13 residential and commercial premises in Goa and Hyderabad were searched under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in connection with the "illegal" land grabbing case of Communidade lands in Goa, the federal probe agency said in a statement.

A Goa Police FIR is the basis of the ED case.

The accused "illegally" mutated more than 3,50,000 sq m of land located at prime areas of Goa like Anjuna and Assagao in their names using "forged" old documents, which were submitted to the concerned authorities to facilitate the mutation process, the ED alleged.

Portions of these properties were sold to certain persons generating additional proceeds of crime (illicit funds) to the tune of crores of rupees, it said.

The total market valuation of the land parcels "illegally" grabbed by the accused persons is likely to exceed Rs 1,200 crore, according to the agency.

The ED said cash of Rs 72 lakh and seven high-end cars like Porsche Cayman, BMW, Range Rover, Mercedes Benz and M5, and Audi A-6 were seized by it.

A number of bank accounts and fixed deposits belonging to people involved in this case were also frozen besides some "incriminating" documents related to the land transactions.

"The ongoing investigation is likely to expose a wider network of persons engaged in illegal land grabbing across Goa," the ED said. PTI NES SMV ZMN