New Delhi, March 20 – The Enforcement Directorate (ED) attached 126 immovable properties, valued at ₹5,046.91 crore, spread across Punjab and Delhi, on Friday, in connection with a large-scale fraud perpetrated under the guise of a real estate investment scheme, operated by the Pearls Group.
The attachment by the ED's Delhi zonal office was under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and pertains to a financial fraud of ₹48,000 crore, according to an official statement.
This marks the latest attachment of the group's properties by a Chandigarh-based firm, following accusations of money laundering.
The 126 properties attached were found, in the ED's investigation, to have been acquired from investors' funds, constituting proceeds of crime.
With this attachment, the ED has so far attached movable and immovable properties worth nearly ₹22,656.91 crore, including assets located in India and abroad, belonging to PACL Limited and its related entities.
The ED initiated an investigation against the firm based on an FIR lodged by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) under Sections 120-B and 420 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860.
The CBI filed a charge sheet and a supplementary charge sheet against 33 accused, including individuals and companies, for their role in running an illegal investment scheme.
In its charge sheet, the CBI indicted the individuals and entities of the firm, who operated a massive illegal investment scheme and fraudulently mobilized over ₹48,000 crore from lakhs of investors across India, under the pretense of selling and developing agricultural land.
Their modus operandi included persuading investors to invest under cash down payment and installment payment plans. They were made to sign misleading documents, such as agreements, powers of attorney, and other instruments. In most cases, the land was never delivered, and nearly ₹48,000 crore remained unpaid to investors.
The scheme involved the use of multiple front entities and reverse sale transactions to conceal the fraud and generate wrongful gains.
As of now, the ED has filed one charge sheet and four supplementary charge sheets in 2022, 2025 and 2026 against accused persons and entities involved in laundering the proceeds of crime.