Pearls gave third-party land to investors

CBI’s investigations into the Rs 45,000-crore Ponzi scam involving Pearls Group have revealed that the accused firm allegedly allocated land of “third parties” to its various investors fraudulently. Sources said that promoters of the group reportedly collected more than Rs 7,000 crores from the depositors thro-ugh this illegal operation.

Sources said, “CBI sleuths during investigations found that the suspected firm allotted plots to several customers across several states showing random khasra nos. However, it was found that many of the khasra numbers did not exist and in some cases, they pertained to common land or forest land. Majority of the land allocated by them belonged to third parties.” The CBI has arrested promoter of Pearls Group, Nirmal Singh Bhangoo.

The agency sleuths suspect that the accused companies and their promoters may have used the investors’ money to buy assets in foreign countries including Australia. “The CBI will soon send a team of its officials to Australia to probe the matter further”, sources said.

“The accused firm was allegedly planning to develop about 482 acres of the land under the land development policy of the Delhi government in the national capital. Besides, properties allegedly owned by the firms include 66 offices in three commercial buildings in posh Connaught Place area in central Delhi. The company was also found to have purchased a 11.5 acre farmland in Rajokari at Delhi-Gurgaon border. Bhangoo had also bought a farmhouse at Rajokari from tainted Haryana politician Gopal Kanda”, sources said.