India’s Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached 68 high-value properties worth ₹762 crore in Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Maharashtra, and Australia. These assets were bought with money stolen from 5.8 crore investors in one of India’s biggest frauds: The PACL scam.
Directors of Pearl Agro Corporation Limited (PACL) tricked people for 18 years by promising plots of land or high returns. Instead, they collected ₹48,000 crore through illegal investment schemes banned by SEBI. The ED’s action follows a CBI case against PACL, its sister company PGF Limited, and late founder Nirmal Singh Bhangoo for cheating investors nationwide.
The latest press release by the ED on the investigation reads, “Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Delhi Zonal Office has provisionally attached immovable properties valued at Rs. 762.47 Crore (approx) situated across Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Maharashtra, and Australia in connection with an ongoing investigation involving M/s PACL Ltd., its Directors, promoters, and associated entities, conducted under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. ED initiated an investigation on the basis of the FIR registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation.”
How stolen cash became luxury assets
PACL directors secretly moved investors’ money through shell companies in Kolkata, pretending it was for “land development.” Cash was then handed to Bhangoo’s associates in Delhi, sent via hawala (illegal channels) to Dubai, and finally used to buy foreign properties.
Recent raids across 9 states uncovered documents proving this laundering chain. Key accused like Bhangoo’s son-in-law Harsatinder Pal Hayer bought luxury properties in Mumbai, Punjab, and Australia with the stolen funds. Hayer, arrested in March 2025, faces new charges for hiding these assets as “clean” despite knowing they were bought with fraud money.