ED Arrests Advocate in Rs 28,000 Crore Cyber Fraud and Money Laundering Case:

In connection with a probe in a money laundering case involving transactions amounting to Rs 28,000 crore, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday has arrested an advocate. The arrest takes the total number of people arrested in the case to seven, according to official sources.

The accused, Rashesh Upadhyay, also known as Rashesh Shah, was intercepted by an ED team from its Panaji unit at a boarding gate inside Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport while he was preparing to board a flight to Delhi. Customs officials and the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) assisted the agency in locating him. He was later taken to Panaji and produced before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court, which sent him to ED custody until October 29.

The investigation began after Goa Police registered an FIR on June 9, 2025. A Goa-based woman was allegedly duped into transferring Rs 2.60 crore between May 21 and June 2, 2025, into several bank accounts controlled by cyber fraudsters who placed her under digital arrest.

While seeking the accused's custody, the ED told the court that Upadhyay was allegedly a key link in the network. The agency claimed that he helped get frozen bank accounts released by bribing officials through Angadiyas, an informal network of individuals involved in transferring cash. The ED also alleged that although he was enrolled as an advocate, he had not appeared or filed a Vakalatnama for any accused person or company in the case.

According to the ED, the money obtained from the victim was transferred through around 400 mule accounts linked to commodity, travel and foreign exchange companies allegedly operated through dummy directors. The funds were later withdrawn in cash and converted into foreign currency through money changers licensed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

The agency stated that the network handled banking transactions worth nearly Rs 28,000 crore and deposited approximately Rs 2,900 crore in cash. Its accounts have reportedly appeared in more than 300 victim complaints.