The directorate of enforcement (ED) has provisionally attached 169 immovable properties valued at around ₹3,436.56 crore in the PACL case, marking one of the largest single attachment actions in the long-running probe into the alleged collective investment fraud. The properties, located in Ludhiana (Punjab), have been attached by ED’s Delhi zonal office under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
According to the ED release, the attachment forms part of its ongoing investigation into PACL Ltd, Pearls Golden Forest Ltd (PGFL), late Nirmal Singh Bhangoo and others, following a first information report (FIR) registered by the banking and securities fraud cell (BSFC) of central bureau of investigation (CBI), under Sections 120-B and 420 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The case relates to what investigators describe as a massive fraudulent collective investment scheme through which PACL and its associates allegedly raised and misappropriated around ₹48,000 crore from lakhs of unsuspecting investors across the country.
The agency says its probe has revealed that a portion of the funds mobilised from investors was used to acquire the 169 properties now under attachment, all of which are held in the name of PACL. These assets are alleged to represent proceeds of crime generated from the scam. With the latest action, the total value of movable and immovable properties attached in the case so far has risen to around ₹5,602 crore, including assets located both in India and abroad.
ED has already filed one prosecution complaint and two supplementary prosecution complaints before the competent court in connection with the PACL investigation. The agency says further investigation is in progress to trace additional assets and establish the full trail of money laundering.
The latest attachment follows a series of high-value actions taken by ED over the past year as it intensifies efforts to recover investor funds. In September 2025, the agency provisionally attached immovable properties worth ₹696.21 crore in Panchkula (Haryana), after investigators found that investor money had been routed through a complex web of layering and diversion to conceal its illicit origin. Those assets were allegedly acquired in the names of multiple entities, including DSS Megacity Pvt Ltd, Saramati Realtors Pvt Ltd, Saramati Techno Build Pvt Ltd, Shiv Megacity Project Pvt Ltd and Roseco Builders Pvt Ltd, in an attempt to project tainted funds as legitimate.
In July this year, ED had attached immovable properties valued at around ₹762.47 crore spread across Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Maharashtra and even Australia. According to the agency, these assets comprised 68 properties acquired in the names of Mr Bhangoo, his family members and entities connected to PACL using elaborate layering techniques which ED described as a textbook case of laundering the proceeds of crime.
The probe has also involved extensive search operations. In March 2025, ED officials conducted searches at three premises in Gurgaon linked to Barinder Kaur, daughter of PACL founder late Mr Bhangoo, and her associate Manoj Kumar, who is identified as a close associate of Ms Kaur and her husband, Harsatinder Pal Singh. During those searches, investigators seized digital records and property documents linked to PACL and its affiliates, which the agency says have strengthened its case.
ED officials maintain that the attachments are a critical step towards tracing, securing and ultimately recovering assets for the benefit of millions of small investors affected by the PACL scam. The agency has reiterated that the investigation remains ongoing, with a focus on identifying further properties and financial trails linked to the alleged laundering of investor funds.
Often described as one of the biggest real estate-related Ponzi scams in India, the PACL fraud came to light over a decade ago. The group lured investors by promising land allotments and high returns through so-called farmland investments, many of which were never delivered. The case prompted regulatory and legal scrutiny from SEBI and other agencies, culminating in multiple investigations and arrests over the years.
In 2016, the Supreme Court directed SEBI to facilitate the refund process for affected investors.
In February 2019, a committee headed by retired justice (retd) RM Lodha, which is supervising the Supreme Court (SC)-ordered process of selling PACL's assets. initiated the process of refunds in phases for investors who had invested in PACL. PACL (or Pearls) is one of the largest Ponzi schemes in India, which had been allowed to run for decades, amassing over ₹60,000 crore. The committee asked PACL investors to submit online applications for refunds.
The Lodha committee has been processing applications received from investors in a phased manner, slab-wise and, currently, applications with claims amounting to up to ₹10,000 have been processed and payments have been made in respect of eligible claim applications.
The latest action by ED adds further weight to the government’s ongoing efforts to claw back money from the scam’s masterminds and return it to duped investors.
ED confirmed that further investigation is underway to unearth more assets and identify other entities involved in concealing illicit gains.
The mobilisation of funds by PACL goes back to prior to 1997. Upon receipt of a complaint, SEBI on 30 November 1999 and 10 December 1999 issued letters asking PACL to comply with the provisions of the collective investment scheme (CIS) regulations.
In September 2018, ED filed a charge-sheet against PACL and the company's chief, Mr Bhangoo, in connection with the Ponzi scam involving over ₹49,100 crore which was collected allegedly by two companies from millions of investors. ED, in January 2018, attached Australia-based assets of the Pearls group and Mr Bhangoo worth ₹472 crore. (
Read: PACL Scam: ED Files Chargesheet in the Rs49,100 crore Fraud)
Mr Bhangoo, his companies, PACL and PGFL, as well as several thousand of his commission agents, were accused of cheating 55 million investors on the pretext of the sale and development of agricultural land.
The companies made false allotments of land to investors. However, the companies never owned any land in their own name.
Mr Bhangoo and his companies promised the investors that allotment would be done on their investment between 90 and 270 days and, if not, handsome returns would be paid.
