The Enforcement Directorate has seized properties in Ludhiana valued at more than Rs 3,400 crore that are connected to Pearl Agro Corporation Ltd (PACL) and its promoter, Nirmal Singh Bhangoo, as part of a money laundering investigation.
Through a multi-level marketing scheme, the latter allegedly gathered over Rs 48,000 crore from investors and laundered the money to purchase properties in India and abroad. Including other properties in Australia, the case's total attachment now surpasses Rs 5,600 crore.
"Investigation revealed that part of the funds mobilised from lakhs of investors were utilised for the acquisition of these 169 properties, currently valued at Rs 3,436.56 crore, in the name of PACL," the Enforcement Directorate said on Thursday. To date, the agency has submitted three chargesheets in the case.
Harsatinder Pal Singh, Bhangoo's son-in-law, was detained by the ED earlier in March on suspicion of money laundering and purchasing properties in Australia valued at more than Rs 460 crore.
An FIR filed by the CBI against PACL, Nirmal Singh Bhangoo, and other individuals for allegedly participating in fraudulent investment schemes serves as the foundation for the ED's investigation.
In order to reimburse around six crore investors for their lost funds, ED started restitution procedures last year. The Justice Lodha committee, which was created by the Supreme Court to oversee the disposal of confiscated assets in the case and the reimbursement of cash to the victims, was then informed by the ED of the specifics of Pearl Agro Group's attached assets valued at Rs 700 crore.
The Pearl organization was previously outlawed by the Indian Security and Exchange Board for "illegally collecting Rs 49,100 crore from 59 million investors over 18 years".
