Goa’s serene beaches hide dark undercurrents of crime, as revealed by the Enforcement Directorate’s bold move against Mohammad Suhail in a sophisticated land grabbing racket involving money laundering. On November 20, 2025, ED lodged a chargesheet under PMLA in the Special Court at Mapusa, with the Principal District Judge acknowledging the offenses on January 2, 2026.
This stems from Goa Police SIT’s chargesheet of January 9, 2024, originating from a 2022 FIR at Crime Branch. Suhail, a repeat player in property frauds, masterminded the takeover of family land in Anjuna by inventing ‘Malvin G. Lobo’—complete with phony birth and death records. Forged succession documents and powers of attorney funneled the asset to his network.
The property trail continued: transferred to Suhail’s wife via a 2010 sale deed, then flipped to Sheikh Salim in 2011 at a suspiciously low registered price, masking hefty cash flows. Such tactics are classic for layering dirty money into legitimate assets.
Suhail’s arrest on September 22, 2025, followed meticulous raids, leading to 14 days of ED custody before jail. Presented virtually from Colvale Central Jail during the hearing, the case spotlights systemic flaws in land registry systems. As Goa booms as a real estate hotspot, authorities vow tougher measures against such syndicates, promising justice for defrauded owners and a cleaner property market.