The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested an advocate at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in a suspected nationwide cyber fraud and money laundering probe involving transactions said to total nearly ₹28,000 crore. Officials intercepted Rashesh Upadhyay alias Rashesh Shah at the airport boarding gate while he was heading to Delhi. He was taken to Panaji and produced before a special court under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), which remanded him in ED custody until October 29. The ED said the investigation traces back to an FIR registered by Goa Police on June 9, 2025, after a Goa woman reported being cheated of ₹2.60 crore through a digital arrest scam. Investigators alleged she was placed under a fake digital arrest and pressured into transferring money into multiple mule bank accounts between May 21 and June 2, 2025. The ED expanded the case into the financial network it says received and moved the stolen funds. According to the agency, money from the complainant was routed through around 400 mule accounts tied to commodity, travel and foreign exchange companies linked to dummy directors. The agency alleged the proceeds were withdrawn in cash and exchanged into foreign currency through money changers licensed by the Reserve Bank of India. It described Upadhyay as a “key node” in the network, claiming he helped unfreeze accounts by bribing officials of agencies involved when accounts were frozen following police complaints. The ED said the alleged bribe payments were routed through Angadiyas, people operating in a cash-based network. Investigators also claimed Upadhyay enrolled as an advocate but had never appeared in court or filed a Vakalatnama on behalf of the accused persons or their companies. The ED said its probe links the syndicate’s bank accounts to more than 300 victim complaints and over 160 FIRs registered across 20 states and union territories. It put reported losses tied to those complaints above ₹400 crore. The investigation is continuing, including efforts to identify officials allegedly accepting bribes and to trace intermediaries such as Angadiyas.