The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Uttar Pradesh Police has arrested Gurnam Singh, director of Pearls Agro-Tech Corporation Limited (PACL), from Rupnagar district in Punjab, in connection with a massive Rs 49,000 crore Ponzi-like investment scam that has shaken India’s financial landscape.
The 69-year-old is accused of orchestrating a fraudulent scheme that duped over five crore investors across ten Indian states—including UP, Punjab, Delhi, Bihar, and Kerala—through bogus real estate investments, promising high returns and land plots without regulatory approval.
Operating under the guise of PACL Ltd., originally registered as Guruvant Agro-Tech Ltd in Jaipur, the company lured investors through aggressive marketing, lavish seminars, and fake receipts for nonexistent properties. Despite offering land-linked returns, PACL was never registered as a Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC), violating RBI norms.
According to EOW Director General Neera Rawat, PACL employed a classic pyramid model: early returns were paid using fresh investments, and agents were incentivised to recruit friends and family. Branches flourished in Uttar Pradesh cities like Mahoba and Sultanpur, intensifying the spread of the scheme.
Investigations by SEBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) uncovered that Rs 19,000 crore was funnelled through shell companies in UP alone. One such firm, MDB Housing, was allegedly managed by Harsatinder Pal Singh Hayer, PACL founder Nirmal Singh Bhangoo’s son-in-law, who remains in custody.
Bhangoo, a former milkman from Barnala, Punjab, allegedly used investor funds to build a real estate empire now under scrutiny. While Singh’s arrest is a major breakthrough, authorities continue to track absconding associates and trace laundered assets.
With four suspects already in jail and a nationwide manhunt for the remaining accused underway, the PACL case stands as one of India’s largest financial frauds in recent memory, exposing deep flaws in investment oversight and consumer protection.
