Pearls chit fund fraud: Uncertainty over refund claims leaves investors jittery

Gaurav Kanthwal & Sukhmeet Singh

Mohali/ Bathinda, Aug 26

The scenario continues to remain grim for the duped investors of Nirmal Bhangoo-led Pearls Group of Companies. Bhangoo died on Saturday in a Delhi hospital.

Close to 21 lakh investors in Pearl Group who had demanded claims up to Rs 19,000, have been paid Rs 1,021.84 crore, the Securities and Exchange Board Board of India (Sebi) had disclosed in February.

The refund process initiated by the Supreme Court-appointed RM Lodha committee was overseeing disposal of PACL assets to repay the affected investors, but the process was an exceptionally long drawn one. With Sebi, police, CBI and ED involved in many such cases, the wait is going to be painful for those affected.

Lawyers, on the condition of anonymity, said it was a grim scenario even if all land was reclaimed and auctioned. “The market rates are always higher than the government’s rate. With big corporates eyeing land chunks from the government, you get only a fraction of the market rates in the auction,” said an Amritsar-based lawyer. At many places, the land is being illegally used for agricultural and mining purposes.

Mahesh Duvedi, president Pearls Colony Plot Holders Association, Bathinda, said 462 plot holders have invested around Rs 85 crore, but we have not got anything yet and we have been fighting a legal battle in Supreme Court since 2016.

Sunil Kumar, a Bathinda resident, said he had invested Rs 10 lakh in Pearl Group and still he had not got back any money. “We are hopeful that soon we will get our money back,” he added.

Nirmal, the youngest of the three brothers, belonged to Bela village of Chamkaur Sahib in Ropar district. Nirmal’s eldest brother Gurdial Singh died in 1991, while his other elder brother and business partner Nachattar Singh died in June. Nirmal’s son died in 2011 and his two daughters Sukhwinder Kaur and Barinder Kaur and their husbands Gurpartap Singh and Harsatinder Singh are settled in Australia.

On September 14, 2023, the Vigilance Bureau (VB) arrested absconding accused Prem Kaur, wife of Nirmal, MD, Pearls Golden Forest (PGF) Ltd. She was named in this case for alienating properties belonging to Pearls Agrotech Corporation Ltd (PACL) and its group companies in Punjab.

BIG DEALS

• Pearls group was reportedly one of the sponsors of Kings XI Punjab team in IPL-4. In 2016, two international cricketers from Punjab got embroiled in a controversy for allegedly receiving plots as gifts from the firm
• Nirmal Bhangoo reportedly spent ~35 crore to promote kabaddi from 2010-14
• In 2011, he signed up Australian pacer Brett Lee to promote his hospitality business in Australia
• In 2013, he had signed a three-year deal to sponsor Super Fight League and Golf Premier League