The Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Panaji Zonal Office, conducted search operations at eight locations in Goa and Pune on July 4 as part of an ongoing investigation into a land-grabbing case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA).

The searches are linked to a probe against John Paul Valles, Sandeep Vazarkar, and their associates, who are accused of illegally acquiring ancestral land measuring 5,000 sq. meters in Socorro, North Goa. The case was initiated based on an FIR filed at Porvorim Police Station by complainant Jeronimo Oliveiro Desouza.

According to investigators, the accused allegedly conspired to forge documents in inventory proceeding No. 134/2019/C, falsely claiming that the father of two women—Sandra De Sa and Maureen Saldanha—shared the same name as the complainant’s father. This fraudulent claim allowed the illegal transfer of ownership of the ancestral property to the two women.