Mumbai: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested an advocate in connection with a money-laundering investigation linked to an alleged pan-India cyber fraud and digital arrest network involving transactions worth Rs 28,000 crore, taking the total arrests in the matter to seven.
Rashesh Upadhyay alias Rashesh Shah was intercepted by a team from the ED’s Panaji unit at a boarding gate inside Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport on Saturday, when he was about to board a flight to Delhi.
Officers from the Customs and the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) assisted the ED in zeroing in on Upadhyay, the sources said.
Upadhyay was taken to Panaji and produced before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court, which remanded him to ED custody until October 29.
Seeking Upadhyay’s custody, the ED described him as a key link in the alleged network. The agency told the court that bank accounts linked to the suspected cybercrime operation had been frozen following police complaints, but Upadhyay allegedly facilitated their unfreezing by arranging bribes to officials through angadiyas. The agency has not publicly identified the officials who allegedly received the payments and is investigating their identities and the role of the intermediaries involved.
The investigation began after Goa Police registered a first information report on June 9, 2025. A Goa-based woman was allegedly placed under digital arrest by cyber fraudsters and duped into transferring Rs 2.60 crore to several mule accounts between May 21 and June 2, 2025.
According to the ED, the money obtained from the Goa complainant was routed through around 400 mule bank accounts linked to commodity trading, travel and foreign exchange companies. These entities were allegedly operated through dummy directors, with the accounts used to receive and move funds.
The agency has alleged that the money was subsequently withdrawn in cash and converted into foreign currency through money changers licensed by the Reserve Bank of India(RBI). Investigators are examining the movement of funds through these accounts and businesses to identify the beneficiaries and establish the suspected proceeds of crime.
The probe has since widened beyond the original complaint. According to the ED, accounts linked to the network have surfaced in more than 300 victim complaints and over 160 FIRs registered across 20 states and Union Territories.The reported losses in these cases exceed Rs 400 crore.
The agency has traced banking transactions worth nearly Rs 28,000 crore through the network and identified cash deposits of approximately Rs 2,900 crore. These figures represent the wider financial activity under investigation and are distinct from the losses reported by victims.
The six accused arrested before Upadhyay include Fahim Moin Hussain Sayed and Naim Mueen Sayyed, who were allegedly linked to companies used to route funds and convert suspected cyber-fraud proceeds into cash and foreign currency; Mumbai-based chartered accountant Bhushan Suryakant Moye, accused of incorporating around 21 companies allegedly used by the network; Vilas Narayan Pawar and Shailesh Dagdu Chavan, who allegedly facilitated cash transactions against bank transfers; and Mukesh Kumar Pukhraj Jain alias Mukesh Bhai, who allegedly arranged RTGS credits into bank accounts linked to the network in exchange for cash and commission.Upadhyay, the seventh person arrested, allegedly facilitated the unfreezing of bank accounts by arranging bribes to officials through angadias.
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