Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru
Mangaluru, Aug 14: Four major criminal cases in Mangaluru—against accused Roshan Saldanha, a well-known multi-crore fraudster from Mangaluru—have been transferred to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) for detailed investigation, following a directive issued by the Karnataka Director General and Inspector General of Police on August 13.
The cases include two filed at the CEN police station (Crime Nos. 22/2025 and 40/2025) under Sections 111, 316(2), 316(5), 318(2), 318(3), read with Sections 3(5) and 61(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, and two more at Kankanady police station (Crime Nos. 109/2025 and 115/2025) under Sections 318(4) and 3(5) of the same code. These are part of a broader investigation into Saldanha’s sophisticated loan-and-land fraud operation, which is estimated to involve sums ranging from Rs 10 crore to over Rs 200 crore.
Saldanha, a 43-year-old entrepreneur from Bollagudda, Bajal, was arrested earlier in July after police raided his lavish “Bollywood-style” mansion, uncovering secret chambers, staged luxury, and fake legal setups designed to dupe prominent businessmen with false promises of high-value loans.
During these raids, police froze Rs 3.7 crore linked to the scam and unearthed evidence of fraudulent money flows involving victims from Maharashtra and Assam.
More recently, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) executed raids at five locations in Mangaluru in connection with a money-laundering investigation under the PMLA, seizing documents, freezing bank assets worth Rs 3.8 crore, and tracing utilisation of funds—including Rs 5.8 crore spent on fishing boats purchased under the name of Saldanha’s wife Dafney Neethu D’Souza.
The DG & IGP has instructed the Commissioner of Police, Mangaluru City, to hand over all case files along with investigating officers directly to the CID’s investigation office. The CID is required to submit its findings to the DG & IGP upon completion.
The move reflects the escalating scope of the probe into Saldanha’s fraudulent network and underscores the need for a specialised investigative response to dismantle the multi-state con operation.