New Delhi, February 18: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has launched a significant operation against PACL Limited and its associated entities in a money laundering case. The agency’s Delhi Zonal Office-2 has provisionally attached 247 properties located in SAS Nagar (Mohali), Rupnagar, Zirakpur, and Mohali, with a total value of ₹10,021.46 crore. This marks the ED’s largest single attachment action to date.
The investigation stems from an FIR filed by the CBI on February 19, 2014, which alleges fraud and conspiracy under IPC sections 120-B and 420. This FIR was registered following directives from the Supreme Court. The CBI has filed a charge sheet and supplementary charge sheets against 33 accused, including PACL and related companies/individuals.
The probe revealed that the accused fraudulently raised over ₹48,000 crore from millions of investors across India under the pretext of selling and developing agricultural land. Investors were lured with cash down payments or installment plans, and they were made to sign misleading agreements and power of attorney documents. In most cases, the promised land was never delivered, and investors did not receive their money back.
To conceal the fraud, front entities were utilized, and reverse sale transactions were conducted. The Supreme Court, in an order dated February 2, 2016, directed SEBI to distribute the funds obtained from selling the land purchased by PACL to the investors. A committee was formed under the chairmanship of former Chief Justice R. M. Lodha for this purpose. However, the investigation revealed that the illegal use of PACL’s assets continued.
The Punjab Vigilance Bureau, along with police in Jaipur and Bengaluru, has also registered FIRs concerning the illegal sale of land purchased with investors’ money. During searches, empty sale deeds, signed checkbooks, and identification documents were seized, indicating a systematic attempt at money laundering.
The ED registered an ECIR in 2016 and filed a prosecution complaint in 2018. Subsequently, three supplementary complaints were filed in 2022, 2025, and 2026. The Special Court (PMLA) has taken cognizance of all these cases. The attached 247 properties were purchased using investors’ funds and are considered crime proceeds. With this attachment, the ED has now seized a total of ₹17,610 crore in assets, both movable and immovable, in India and abroad.
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S.C.H.
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