Goa’s banking sector faces renewed scrutiny after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) froze assets totaling ₹78 lakh in a brazen embezzlement scheme at Bank of Baroda’s Anjuna branch. Acting under PMLA provisions, the Panaji office targeted properties acquired through siphoned public money.
Triggering the ED inquiry was a police FIR against ex-branch manager Udit Narayan and others for a conspiracy that duped the bank and clients. Without authorization, they executed illegal transfers, pocketing the proceeds in a well-orchestrated fraud.
Deep dives into transactions exposed Narayan’s misuse of authority. Forged documents and fake SIMs facilitated debits from dormant and active accounts, including local Comunidade funds. Accomplices’ mule accounts then layered the money, complicating the trail of ₹2.34 crore in identified illicit gains.
Key seizures encompass a Ponda commercial space at Sadashiv Plaza, an Anjuna land parcel, a Kirti Residency flat, and linked bank funds—all provisionally attached as equivalent to fraud proceeds. These were shrewdly registered under proxies.
As ED presses forward, this case highlights vulnerabilities in branch-level oversight and the agency’s prowess in tracing laundered wealth. It serves as a cautionary tale for financial institutions, promising accountability and recovery for defrauded stakeholders.