The investigating officer of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has completed the inquiry and submitted the report to the Adjudicating Authority in 12 cases of foreigners having violated provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) while buying land in Goa.

The investigation officer A K Singh, who is the assistant director of Enforcement Directorate, has submitted the report in 12 cases and the final outcome is expected in near future. “We have concentrated only on the big cases involving the citizens of Russia and United Kingdom,” Singh told Herald in a telephonic conversation from Mumbai.

He further said that these deals have run into crores of rupees and the Adjudicating Authority would decide on the penalty depending on the nature of the deal.

“If there are any illegalities found the Authority will decide whether to attach the properties,” he said. However, he refused to divulge how many such cases have come to his knowledge during the course of investigation.

He said the RBI and the ED will now start doing the needful in the cases. Asked about the fate of remaining cases, totally 286 in number, Singh said that he has been working on them one by one.

“As you know the foreigners come only during season for hearing and the investigations are on hold for long but we have completed the major job and the reports are likely to be submitted soon,” he replied. According to the RBI guidelines, foreigners can acquire immovable property in India — provided the individual has established a branch office or place of business in India.