The ‘Digital Arrest’ Was Fake, But The Money Trail Was Real: ED’s ₹27,850-Crore Banking Network And The Advocate It Calls A ‘Lien-Fixer’

A woman in Goa and her husband were allegedly targeted in a digital arrest scam between May and June 2025. Fraudsters posing as officials from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India and the Central Bureau of Investigation subjected the couple to continuous video surveillance, displayed a forged Supreme Court order, and threatened them with a fabricated criminal case. The victims were allegedly induced to transfer approximately ₹2.60 crore into accounts falsely termed secret supervision accounts.

The Enforcement Directorate launched an investigation into the matter, which revealed that the Goa incident was connected to a massive financial network operating across multiple states. According to investigators, the broader network used commodity, trading, travel, and foreign-exchange entities, along with dormant or newly opened bank accounts, to fragment and move funds. The ED identified over 400 beneficiary accounts, more than 160 FIRs across states and union territories, and aggregate reported victim losses of ₹417.49 crore, with total banking transactions exceeding ₹27,850 crore.

Investigators discovered that some companies involved were allegedly incorporated using individuals of modest financial means, such as employees and drivers, as nominal directors while actual control rested elsewhere. The probe also led to the arrest of a Mumbai-based advocate, accused of acting as a key intermediary who allegedly arranged to unfreeze about 100 bank accounts by routing cash bribes through couriers known as angadiyas.

Not yet reported: The articles do not specify the final judicial outcomes or court sentences for the arrested individuals.