NEW DELHI: In a Rs 48,000 crore cheating case, where accused Pearl group collected money from people and siphoned off proceeds to foreign countries, ED on Friday arrested Harsatinder Pal Singh Hayer, son-in-law of main accused Nirmal Singh Bhangoo.
Hayer was behind investments of proceeds of crime in Australia where ED has already attached Rs 460 crore worth of properties. ED last year approached SC for restitution of Bhangoo’s attached properties to the victims of the scam.
The agency said its probe revealed that Hayer was director in several associate companies of PACL Ltd, including two Australian entities – Pearls Australasia Pty Ltd and Australasia Mirage I-Pty Ltd. “PACL and its associates diverted Rs 657 crore of the proceeds of crime, to these Australian entities controlled by Harsatinder Pal Singh Hayer. These funds were then invested by the Australian companies in various real estate assets in Australia,” it said. Hayer has been further accused of “dissipating the properties (proceeds of crime) of PACL and its related entities” in violation of the SC order of 25 July 2016.
ED initiated probe under PMLA based on an FIR registered by CBI against PACL, Bhangoo, and others for their alleged involvement in operating fraudulent investment schemes to deceive investors. tnn
