ED raids Mohali MLA’s residence in PACL case
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials on Tuesday raided 15 locations related to Pearl Agro Corporation Limited (PACL) and its associated entities of late Nirmal Singh Bhangoo in connection with the Rs 48,000-crore alleged money laundering scam.
The locations searched included the office and residence of AAP’s Mohali MLA Kulwant Singh. He is reportedly considered among the richest lawmakers in Punjab.
The real estate developer-turned-MLA was not at his house when the ED team reached there and remained unavailable for comments.
The ED also raided the Jaipur residence of former Rajasthan minister and Congress leader Pratap Singh Khachariyawas.
The searches were conducted in the matter related to the PACL pertaining to investor fraud involving an amount of Rs 48,000 crore. The directors of the PACL had allegedly siphoned off investors’ funds by transferring these to shell companies in multiple locations. An FIR had also been registered against associates of late Bhangoo for illegally disposing of properties of the PACL and its associated entities.
Last month, the ED had arrested Harsatinder Pal Singh Hayer, the son-in-law of the former Pearls Group chairman and managing director Nirmal Singh Bhangoo, on money laundering charges. The case is based on the FIR registered by the CBI against PACL India Limited, PGF Limited, Nirmal Singh Bhangoo (who died in August 2024) and others.
“They were involved in operating fraudulent investment schemes to deceive investors. Through these schemes, the PACL and its directors defrauded investors of approximately Rs 48,000 crore,” the anti-money laundering agency had said.
According to the ED, Hayer was a director in several associate companies of PACL Limited, including two Australian entities — Pearls Australasia Pty Limited and Australasia Mirage I-Pty Limited. The PACL and its associates allegedly diverted Rs 657.18 crore of the proceeds of crime (POC) to the Australian entities controlled by Hayer.
The Tribune, on March 26, had highlighted the illegal sale of about 50 plots in Sector 104, a prime piece of land linked to the Pearl case in Mohali. These plots have been sold at approximately one-third of their market value.
Punjab