The High Court has granted regular bail to Chartered Accountant Bhushan Suryakant Moye in a money laundering case probed by the Enforcement Directorate, observing that rendering legitimate professional services for the incorporation of companies cannot automatically make a professional liable for how clients later use those corporate bank accounts.
The High Court, setting aside the earlier rejection of bail by the Special PMLA Court, directed Moye’s release on a personal bond of Rs 50,000 with local sureties.
The Goa Enforcement Directorate registered an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) on September 2, 2025, on the basis of an underlying FIR registered on June 9, 2025, by the Cyber Crime Police Station concerning an alleged “digital arrest” cyber fraud scheme. In that scam, fraudsters impersonated officials from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), coercing a victim into transferring over Rs 2.60 crore (Rs 2,60,33,634) across multiple bank accounts.
During the money laundering probe, the ED searched Moye’s premises and arrested him on August 27, 2026. He was subsequently lodged in judicial custody at the Central Jail, Colvale.
Opposing the bail plea, ED counsel Siddharth Samant argued that Moye had incorporated approximately 21 companies for the Fahim Sayyed group, including Dhirti Enterprise Private Limited, which allegedly served as corporate infrastructure to receive, layer, and conceal proceeds of crime. The agency alleged that co-accused persons had admitted that these entities were formed solely to channel funds through RTGS, and contended that Moye knowingly built this apparatus even after the accounts had come under scrutiny by law enforcement. Under Section 45 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the ED argued that the twin mandatory conditions for bail had not been met.
Appearing for Moye, Advocates Damodar Dhond and Vibhav Amonkar submitted that Moye is a reputed Chartered Accountant with no criminal antecedents and was not named as an accused in the predicate cybercrime FIR. Counsel emphasized that Moye merely carried out company incorporations strictly in accordance with the Companies Act and Ministry of Corporate Affairs rules, based on client instructions, and charged a standard professional fee of Rs 25,000 per company. The defence maintained that he had no nexus with the cyber fraud or the laundering scheme.
Granting bail to Moye, the High Court observed that there was nothing on record to demonstrate that he was a beneficiary of the laundering activity, assisted in laundering proceeds of crime, or played any discernible role in the concealment, possession, or acquisition of tainted funds.
