Ex Pearls Group chief Bhangoo’s son-in-law held in ₹48k-cr fraud case
Harsatinder Pal Singh Hayer was arrested on Friday, and a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court later sent him to ED custody.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested Harsatinder Pal Singh Hayer— the son-in-law of the former Pearls Group chairman and managing director Nirmal Singh Bhangoo — in connection with its money laundering investigation into the ₹48,000-crore Ponzi scheme case, officials familiar with the matter said on Saturday.
According to the statement issued by the federal agency, Hayer was arrested on Friday, and a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court later sent him to ED custody.
The case is based on a first information report (FIR), registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation, that accused PACL (Punjab Agro Company Limited (PACL), a subsidiary of the Pearls Group, and Bhangoo, among others, of cheating 55 million investors through a network of 2.3 million agents by promising them agricultural plots and a high return on investments. ED has alleged that PACL and its directors “defrauded” the investors for about ₹48,000 crore.
Bhangoo, who was arrested in 2016, died in August last year in Delhi.
In a statement on Saturday, ED said its investigation has revealed that Hayer was director in several associate companies of PACL, including two Australian entities - Pearls Australasia Pty Ltd and Australasia Mirage I-Pty Ltd.
“PACL and associates diverted ₹657.18 crore of the proceeds of crime (POC) to these Australian entities controlled by Harsatinder Pal Singh Hayer,” it said.
It added: “These funds were then invested by the Australian companies in various real estate properties in Australia. Further, Harsatinder Pal Singh Hayer was also dissipating the properties of PACL and its related entities in violation of Supreme Court order dated July 25, 2016.”
Earlier, ED has attached two immovable properties in Australia valued at ₹462 crore and various movable and immovable properties worth ₹ 244 crore in India in this case.
“These asset details have been shared with the Justice Lodha Committee, appointed by the Supreme Court, for overseeing the process of property disposal and restituting the money to investors,” ED said.
