Rs 49,000 crore Ponzi scheme case: PACL director Gurnam Singh arrested from Punjab’s Rupnagar
PACL director Gurnam Singh is accused of orchestrating the massive Ponzi-like scam, duping over five crore investors across 10 states.
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Pearls Agro-Tech Corporation Limited is accused of duping people in the Rs 49,000 crore alleged Ponzi scam case. (Express Archives: Jaipal Singh)The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Uttar Pradesh Police Thursday arrested Gurnam Singh, the director of Pearls Agro-Tech Corporation Limited (PACL), from Rupnagar district of Punjab in connection with the nearly Rs 49,000 crore alleged Ponzi scam.
Gurnam Singh, 69, is accused of orchestrating the massive Ponzi-like scam, duping over five crore investors across 10 states, including Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Delhi, Rajasthan, Bihar, and Kerala. PACL allegedly lured investors with the promise of land plots, and high returns under fake real estate schemes, without being registered as a Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC), thereby violating the RBI Act.
He is one of the 10 accused — four are in jail, and a manhunt is underway for the rest.
According to Neera Rawat, Director General, EOW, the company functioned as a classic pyramid scheme. Early investors were paid using funds from new investors, and agents earned hefty commissions and were encouraged to bring in family and friends. Massive seminars were conducted to attract more people.
Originally registered as Guruvant Agro-Tech Ltd in Jaipur in 1996, the company was renamed PACL Ltd in 2011, with its corporate office located at Barakhamba Road, New Delhi. It established hundreds of branches in UP, particularly in Mahoba, Jalaun, Sultanpur, and Farrukhabad, where it aggressively marketed bogus land-linked investment schemes. Investors were issued receipts, but neither the land nor the promised returns were delivered.
Following several complaints and a SEBI probe, a case was registered (EOW Case No. 1/18) in Kanpur.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) also filed a supplementary prosecution complaint against PACL and its associates. The ED stated that over Rs 19,000 crore collected in UP alone was routed through shell companies, including MDB Housing, controlled by Harsatinder Pal Singh Hayer, the son-in-law of PACL founder and the alleged mastermind, Nirmal Singh Bhangoo. Hayer is currently in judicial custody.
Bhangoo, a former milkman from Barnala, Punjab, allegedly used investor funds to build a real estate empire. The investigation continues to trace laundered assets and bring other absconders to justice.
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