CBI files FIR for alleged fake villa scam in Goa

Panaji: The CBI’s economic offences branch (EOB) registered an FIR in connection with an alleged multi-crore scam operated by individuals posing as hotel operators, based on a request by state govt.

SP (EOB) Chander Deep said that Goa’s home department accorded its consent for the exercise of powers and jurisdiction by members of the Delhi special police establishment in the whole of Goa for the investigation of the FIR registered at the Anjuna police station. CBI said that Centre subsequently granted it permission to probe the case.“Hence, a regular case is re-registered for the alleged cheating case against one person identified as Md Goremiya,” CBI said.

Goa police, in the FIR, stated that the accused listed a property styled as ‘Ruby Villa, Goa’ on Booking.com for rental purposes. The complainant contacted him through the same website and paid Rs 20,000 towards the advance payment (Gpay) for booking the villa for his family for 10 nights.When the complainant came to Vagator, he found the villa didn’t exist.Union home minister Amit Shah recently wrote a letter in Konkani to CM Pramod Sawant informing him that the CBI’s EOB registered the case and is investigating it, for which Sawant thanked Shah.

TOI reported on Jan 21 this year that Goa police had busted a multi-crore fake villa scam. Then North Goa SP Akshat Kaushal had said that unsuspecting tourists were duped by exploiting loopholes on reputed booking platforms. Police then arrested four persons from Hyderabad and Jaipur. The initial police investigation revealed that over 500 people were duped by the fraudsters to the tune of crores of rupees, he said.“This fraudulent operation, active since 2022, deceived tourists by listing non-existent properties for rent and collecting advance payments through multiple bank accounts,” he had said. Prior to the bust, Goa police had received several complaints regarding online frauds targeting tourists. Victims reported being duped by fake villa listings on platforms such as Booking.com, where they were asked to pay advances for non-existent properties.