CHANDIGARH: Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached fresh properties worth over Rs 5,000 crore as part of its money laundering investigation against Chandigarh-based PACL (Pearls Group), allegedly accused of orchestrating a Rs 48,000 crore ponzi scheme.
The apex investigating agency in a statement stated that it has provisionally attached 126 immovable properties valued at Rs. 5046.91 crore located in Punjab and Delhi under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 in connection with its ongoing investigation into a large-scale financial fraud involving a collective investment scheme operated by M/s PACL Limited and related entities.
``With this attachment, the agency so far has attached properties worth Rs 22,656.91 crore, including assets located in India and abroad, belonging to PACL and its related entities and persons. ED initiated investigation on the basis of FIR No. RCBD1/2014/E/0004 dated 19.02.2014, registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), New Delhi under Sections 120-B and 420 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860,’’ it stated.
The agency noted that in most cases, land was never delivered, and approximately Rs.48,000 crore remains unpaid to investors. The scheme involved use of multiple front entities and reverse sale transactions to conceal the fraud and generate wrongful gains.
``The FIR was registered pursuant to directions of the Supreme Court. Subsequently, CBI filed a charge-sheet and a supplementary chargesheet against 33 accused including individuals and companies for their role in running an illegal investment scheme,’’ it added.
"As per the charge-sheets, the accused entities and persons operated a massive illegal collective investment scheme, fraudulently mobilizing over Rs.48,000 crore from lakhs of investors across India under the pretext of sale and development of agricultural land. Investors were induced to invest under Cash Down Payment and Instalment Payment Plans, and were made to sign misleading documents such as agreements, powers of attorney and other instruments,’’ the statement by the ED reads.
So far, five charge sheets have been filed by the ED as part of the case registered in 2016. ED recorded an ECIR in 2016 and filed a Prosecution Complaint in 2018, followed by four supplementary prosecution complaints in 2022, 2025 and 2026, against various accused persons and entities involved in laundering the proceeds of crime.
The 2016 ED probe stems from a 2014 registered CBI case against PACL Ltd, its promoter Nirmal Singh Bhangoo and some others on the directions of the Supreme Court. Bhangoo died in August 2024.