Court: Frame PMLA charges against three foreigners

Panaji: A Mapusa court has stated that there are sufficient materials to frame charges against three foreign nationals, Dorcast Maria, Wilkista Achista, and Newton Kimani, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA).

The directorate of enforcement charge-sheeted them under the PMLA. The Anjuna police station registered an FIR in Sep 2023 for trafficking victims into India, forcing them into prostitution, and living off their earnings.

A prima facie case is established against the three men involved in money laundering, and there is sufficient material to frame charges against them, stated additional sessions judge North Goa, Mapusa, Sayonara Telles-Laad.

The complainant alleged she was brought to India by those men under the pretext of providing her a job in the hospitality sector in Goa. When she landed in Goa, her official travel documents were seized, and she was forced into prostitution.

The accused were allegedly involved in soliciting customers for prostitution activities through a website. After a prostitution deal was struck between a customer and the traffickers, the victim was required to share a QR code with the customer, and on payment, the entire sum was transferred into the traffickers’ account.