Duped by Pearls money pooling scheme, claim 50

The company, denying any illegality, has moved the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) against the order.

Police believe the number of complaints may increase further. According to SEBI, the amount raised was to the tune of Rs 49,000 crore.
An officer from Deccan police station said, “The company had an office in Deccan Gymkhana area which is now closed. What we have come to know is, the company appointed thousands of agents across the country through whom they collected money from individuals and promised returns. The agents were given large sums.”

The officer added, “We have been receiving complaints for the last few months. These people have invested money ranging from Rs 10,000 to a few lakhs. Most are from rural and fringe areas around Pune. Some invested all their savings, some sold land and valuables to raise money to invest. We have not registered an FIR as of now as the time stipulated by SEBI is not yet over. We believe the number of people from Pune who invested in the scheme is very large.”

PACL has approached the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) against the SEBI order. The officer added, “The company says they purchase and develop land and claims they gave returns of the investments to people. SEBI and CBI investigations found that these schemes were illegal and there was fraud.”

Senior inspector Praveen Chaugule of Deccan Gymkhana police confirmed having received applications from complainants. “SEBI is looking into it. Some people have got money and many have not,” he said.