By Raju Vernekar
Mumbai, Jan 30:
In a contempt of Supreme court (SC), the Pearls Agrotech Corporation Limited (PACL), which duped nearly 5.50 over people, in a Rs. 49,100 crore investment fraud, has sold its plot of land at Juhu in North West Mumbai, which was attached and listed for sale by auction by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).
The SEBI, wound up the collective investment scheme run by PACL on August 22, 2014 and Justice (retired) R M Lodha Committee set up under the direction of the SC on February 02,2016, is in the process of auctioning PACL’s properties spread across India and refund the investors’ money. The Committee has listed 27,133 properties for sale by the auction.
Although the main accused Nirmal Singh Bhangoo is behind the bars, those associated with the PACL are engaged in clandestinely selling its properties in defiance of the Committee’s directions.
The plot admeasuring 2386.7 square mtrs bearing CTS No 39-B, located at Military Road, at Juhu is one of the PACL’s properties listed for auction. However now the plot is in the possession of the third party which has begun construction activities on the plot.
The above plot was purchased by PACL on July 30,2010 from Swastik Coop Housing Society Ltd. The Juhu Vile Parle Development Coop Housing Society Association Ltd was confirming party to this deed of conveyance.
Now as per the agreement entered into by N P Singh on December 28,2021, with one Mangesh Madhukar Gaonkar (Aadhar card No. 747696864030), the plot was sold for Rs 7 crore. Gaonkar who made part payment of Rs 30 lakh has agreed to pay remaining amount within 12 months. Gaonkar’s colleague Nilesh More is also stated to be part of the agreement.
In the agreement Singh has claimed to be the owner of the plot and has the right sell it. Surprisingly the agreement was notarised by R RYadav (Registration No 7538) in Thane far away from Mumbai. According to Vishal Mhetre, Secretary of the Janhit Association, spearheading the cause of the duped investors, the power of authority to sell the plot, claimed by Singh is fake and the deal is suspicious.
Today the plot has been covered with tin sheets from all the sides for construction activity and the board of one Safar Ali Sheikh is displayed at the site. Simultaneously the work related to distribution of LPG cylinders is going on at the plot.
According the records, some time back the “Elite Dzyn” an event management company was also functioning from the same plot. The plot figures in the list of the PACL properties attached by the R M Lodha Committee. The replies to the e mail sent to the RM Lodha Committee and to the spokesman of the SEBI was awaited.
According Mhetre, the Committee’s process of auctioning the attached properties is very slow and the Committee does not serve as a deterrent against the PACL. Besides, despite the notifications by revenue authorities, the collectors have remained lenient and no notices have been published about the attachment of properties in newspapers.
The PACL’s properties located in Delhi, Bangalore (Karnataka), Raigad (Maharashtra), and other places across the country have been sold in similar away. PACL’s properties in Chandigarh, which were in the name of his relatives and third parties. The properties worth Rs 27,000 crore have been listed for sale by the Lodha Committee. But despite this, the PACL, has already disposed of properties worth Rs.1,200 crore.
Till now the Lodha Committee was able to refund very little amount to the duped investors. Also, Rs 370 crore repatriated by the Federal Court of Australia after selling PACL properties in Australia have not been utilised to refund the investors’ money. This unchecked sale of the attached property by the PACL is blatantly illegal and strict punishment should be awarded to all those involved in such clandestine sale, Mhetre said. Besides, the SEBI did not take prompt action to attach all the properties and freeze PACL’s bank accounts, he added.
Bhangoo, the chief promoter of PACL duped the investors across India, by promising them land at a cheaper rate although he and co-promoters did not possess even an inch of land
The principal recoverable amount which was Rs 49,100 crore, has now swelled to over Rs 55,000 crore, with interest and other costs. Bhangoo and others had also collected over Rs 5000 crore from the investors, in the name of the Pearls Golden Forest Ltd (PGFL). As such the Justice (Retired) Vikramjit Sen committee was appointed for recover and refund PGFL investors’ money.
History
PACL was incorporated on February 13, 1996, in Jaipur (Rajasthan). SEBI on August 22, 2014, ordered immediate wind up of the scheme and refund of investors’ money by the PACL within three months. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed an FIR against PACL in 2014. The SEBI issued an order to attach the PACL’s properties on December 11, 2015. The CBI arrested PACL CMD Bhangoo, promoter-director Sukhdev Singh, directors Gurmeet Singh and Subrata Bhattacharya in January 2016 and filed a charge sheet under Section 120B and 420 of IPC, in April 2016. Subsequently a few more people were arrested.
In 2015, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) filed the money laundering ECIR against Bhangoo and other accused that included PACL and M/s Pearl Infrastructure Projects Ltd. (PIPL).
On February 02,2016 the R M Lodha Committee was set up. On December 11, 2016, SEBI initiated recovery proceedings and on September 06, 2017 it imposed a fine of Rs 2,423 crore on PACL and its four directors.
In September 2018, the ED filed a charge-sheet against PACL and attached its Australia- based assets. In the same year, SEBI filed a petition in the Federal Court of Australia (FCA), to recover the money stashed away by the PACL using shell entities in Australia and also sought repatriation of the assets.
In September 2020, the SEBI stated that over Rs 429 crore were refunded to over 12 lakh PACL investors with claims of up to Rs 10,000.
On November 25,2021, the Special CBI Court, New Delhi granted bail to Bhangoo and others in connection with ED’s money laundering case. But they were re-arrested based on the FIRs filed by SIT of Punjab police.
On January 05, 2022, CBI filed supplementary charge sheet against 27 people, who included 14 PACL functionaries, one chartered accountant and seven businessmen.
Today 17 persons including Bhangoo, his wife Prem Kaur and daughters Sukhwinder Kaur and Barinder Kaur, sons-in-laws- Gurpartap Singh and Harsatinder Singh continue to be in Tihar jail.
