ED Arrests Lawyer Rashesh Upadhyay at Mumbai Airport Over Rs 28,000 Crore Fraud

The Enforcement Directorate seized lawyer Rashesh Upadhyay at a boarding gate of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai on Saturday. Upadhyay, also known as Rashesh Shah, was stopped just before boarding a flight to Delhi after ED officials received a tip from customs and the Central Industrial Security Force. It marks the seventh arrest in the agency’s ongoing money‑laundering probe that spans 20 states and accounts for nearly Rs 28,000 crore in alleged cyber‑fraud transactions.

The case traces back to a complaint lodged by a Goa‑based woman who was duped into transferring Rs 2.60 crore between May 21 and June 2, 2025 to a string of accounts— a so‑called digital arrest that left her with a shattered bank balance. ED officials say Upadhyay was the “key node” that unlocked frozen accounts after bribes were paid to officials through a network of so‑called angadiyas.

According to the agency, the fraud ring routed money through 400 mule accounts tied to commodity, travel and foreign‑exchange firms, then withdrew it in cash and converted it to foreign currency via RBI‑licensed money changers. The scheme has spawned over 300 victim complaints and 160 FIRs, with total losses topping Rs 400 crore—yet the primary flow of cash—nearly Rs 2,900 crore—was siphoned into cash.

Upadhyay was remanded to ED custody by a special PMLA court on October 29, and authorities are now probing the officials who accepted bribes, the angadiyas and the full trail of proceeds. The investigation also aims to identify the 400 mule accounts and trace the remaining assets, a task that could take months as the agency combs through financial records across the country.