The CBI has recovered fresh documents pertaining to the properties allegedly owned by Pearls group as part of its investigations into the Rs 45,000-crore Ponzi scam.
The CBI has recovered fresh documents pertaining to the properties allegedly owned by Pearls group as part of its investigations into the Rs 45,000-crore Ponzi scam. Properties owned by the group, sources said, include two posh hotels in Goa, three business complexes in Delhi, 800 acres of land in Karnataka and 50 commercial properties in Bathinda, Amritsar and Mohali.
It is suspected that the accused firms allegedly raised investments worth Rs 45,000 crore from over 5.6 crore gullible investors through a collective investment scheme under the garb of sale and development of agricultural land. The questioning of Pearls group chief Nirmal Singh Bhangoo has been continuing for the last 12 days since his arrest on January 9 this year, sources said.
Sources said during questioning, Bhangoo, along with other executives, also in custody, is giving details of their properties, which shows that the money collected from the investors was allegedly diverted to the accounts of two firms — PACL and PGF — which purchased such properties in India and abroad, they added.
They said that Golden Palm Hotel in Calangute and Golden Palm Hotel and Spa in Colava in Goa, Pearls Business Park and Pearls Omaxe in Pitampura, Pearls Corporate (W. Mall) in Rohini in Delhi are allegedly the latest disclosures by Bhangoo. Besides agricultural land of around 800 acres near Bengaluru with the aim of developing Pearls Township, 37 residential plots and commercial properties in Gurgaon and 50 residential and commercial properties in Punjab were also allegedly purchased by the group, they claimed. Earlier also, Bhangoo and other executives allegedly admitted to have purchased 66 commercial properties in Connaught Place, considered to be one of the prime business addresses in Delhi.
