The Enforcement Directorate attached 169 properties in Ludhiana worth Rs 3436.56 crore in the PACL money laundering case. The properties were bought with funds from a fraudulent scheme that collected Rs 48,000 crore from investors.
ED Attaches Properties Worth Rs 3436 Crore in Ludhiana
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached 169 immovable properties currently valued at Rs 3436.56 crore located in Punjab's Ludhiana in connection with its ongoing probe in the case of PACL and others, the agency said on Thursday.
The agency said its investigation revealed that "the part of the funds mobilised from lakhs of investors was utilised for the acquisition of these 169 immovable properties, currently valued at Rs 3436.56 crore, in the name of PACL."
Background of the PACL Fraud Investigation
ED's Delhi zonal office attached these properties under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 following its investigation on the basis of First Information Report registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) under Sections 120-B and 420 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860 against PACL Ltd., PGF Ltd., late Nirmal Singh Bhangoo, and others.
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, which constitutes the Proceeds of Crime (POC).
Till 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. Further, one prosecution complaint and two supplementary prosecution complaints have been filed in the case till date.
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