Pearls Group fraud: ED attaches 169 Punjab properties worth Rs 3,436 crore

New Delhi, Dec 18 As many as 169 immovable properties valued at Rs 3,436.56 crore and located in Ludhiana, Punjab, were attached by the ED in connection with a Rs 48,000 crore fraud committed under the garb of a real estate investment scheme floated by Pearls Agrotech Corporation Ltd (PACL), an official said on Thursday.

The Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Delhi Zonal Office, provisionally attached the properties in connection with its ongoing probe in the case of PACL and others under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, said the official.

The ED initiated an investigation based on an FIR registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Bank Securities and Fraud Branch (BSFC), New Delhi, under Sections 120-B and 420 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) dealing with conspiracy and cheating against PACL, M/s PGF Ltd., Late Nirmal Singh Bhangoo, and others, said a statement.

The case pertains to massive fraudulent collective investment schemes floated by PACL through which the company and its associates deceitfully raised and misappropriated around Rs 48,000 crore from unsuspecting investors.

The ED said the massive amount of money constitutes the Proceeds of Crime (POC).

The ED investigation revealed that part of the funds mobilised from lakhs of investors were utilised for the acquisition of these 169 immovable properties, currently valued at Rs 3,436.56 crore, in the name of PACL.

To date, in this case, ED has attached movable and immovable properties amounting to Rs 5,602 crore, which includes both domestic properties located across India as well as foreign assets, said the statement.

So far, one Prosecution Complaint and 2 Supplementary Prosecution Complaints have been filed in the case to date.

According to investigators, the company, PACL, did not operate specific, registered collective investment schemes (CIS); rather, the entire business model was found by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to be an illegal and fraudulent scheme that operated without registration, primarily under the guise of real estate and agricultural land development.

--IANS

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