Punjab starts process of confiscating assets in multi-crore ponzi scam: CM Mann

Chandigarh, June 29 (IANS) Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Thursday said the state has started the process of confiscating properties owned by Pearls Group in connection with a multi-crore chit fund case, to compensate the people by selling them.

Divulging the details, the Chief Minister said the state will recover every single penny plundered from the people of the state.

The Pearls Group had allegedly cheated thousands of people by illegally operating different investment schemes. The CBI, which has been investigating the scam since February 19, 2014, has alleged that over Rs 60,000 crore was siphoned off by the two flagship companies of Pearls Group -- PGF Ltd and PACL Ltd -- by duping close to 5.50 crore investors from across the country by floating ponzi schemes.

The Chief Minister said the properties of the Pearls Group have already been identified in various districts of the state and legal process has been initiated to acquire these properties.

He said ‘red entries’ have been made in the revenue records so that no one is able to sell or purchase this property.

The Chief Minister in a statement said the group had done a huge fraud with the people of the state for which it will be made accountable. He said the revenue records have already been checked at the grassroots to ensure complete transparency in the process.

Mann said the topmost priority has been accorded to this work so that this property is confiscated by the government.

The Chief Minister said he has directed the Chief Secretary and the Director General of Police to personally supervise this work for its smooth execution in a time-bound manner.

Mann said the properties will be sold and every penny of the public will be returned back to them. The government is committed for ensuring that the money of people is returned back them and exemplary action against the company acts as a deterrent for other fraudster companies.

The state vigilance bureau last week asked all deputy commissioners to verify the entries made in the land records pertaining to 2,239 properties in the state identified by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as properties recorded in the name of Pearls Agro-Tech Ltd (PACL), its directors and associate companies.

The ownership details of these properties have also been included in the list shared by Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).

In February, the Chief Minister had asked deputy commissioners to identify all properties of the Pearls Group in their respective districts.

At a virtual meeting, he had said the Pearls Group had committed a huge fraud with the people for which it must be made accountable.

During the campaigning for the state assembly polls, Mann had promised that after the formation of the AAP government, the hard-earned money of people would be returned by confiscating assets of chit fund companies.

The CBI had arrested Nirmal Singh Bhangoo, CMD of Pearls Golden Forest Ltd, and three others on January 8, 2016, in the ponzi scam case.

The central agency had registered the case on directions from the Supreme Court.

The CBI in March arrested Harchand Singh Gill, a director of a Pearls Group, who was deported from Fiji under ‘Operation Trishul’. Gill was arrested on landing in New Delhi.

Claiming that Gill was the director and shareholder of PGF Ltd, the CBI alleged he attended board meetings where all important decisions were taken.