ED issues its biggest attachment order worth over Rs 10,000 crore in PACL case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday said it has issued its biggest-ever single attachment order clamping down on 247 immovable assets worth more than Rs 10,000 crore as part of its money laundering investigation against Chandigarh-based PACL (Pearls Group).

The group is accused of orchestrating a Rs 48,000-crore Ponzi scheme.

The properties that have been attached provisionally under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) are located in SAS Nagar (Mohali), Rupnagar and Zirakpur in Punjab, the federal probe agency said in a statement.

The attached 247 properties have been identified as having been acquired from investor funds, constituting proceeds of crime. They have been valued at Rs 10,021.46 crore, it said.

This is probably the highest single attachment order in terms of value and number of properties issued by the agency, ED officials said.

There have been instances when more assets with higher value have been attached in money laundering cases but they are linked instances and not a single case, they said.

The ED probe stems from a February 2014 CBI case against PACL Ltd, its late promoter Nirmal Singh Bhangoo and some others.

Bhangoo died in August 2024.

The accused entities and individuals of PACL operated an “illegal” collective investment scheme, fraudulently mobilising more than Rs 48,000 crore from lakhs of investors across India under the guise of sale and development of agricultural land, according to ED.

Investors were induced to invest through cash down payment and instalment payment plans and were made to sign “misleading” documents, including agreements, powers of attorney and other instruments, it said.

“In the majority of cases, no land was ever delivered, and approximately Rs 48,000 crore remains unpaid to investors,” the agency said.

Four chargesheets have been filed by ED till now as part of this case registered in 2016.

With the fresh order, ED has so far attached movable and immovable properties worth Rs 17,610 crore including some assets located abroad.