Nirmal Singh Bhangoo, the controversial owner of Pearls Group who was at the centre of a Rs 45,000 crore scam that duped nearly 55 million investors, passed away on Sunday at a Delhi hospital after spending eight years in judicial custody, the ministry said. The Indian Express.
Bhangoo, who hails from Barnala in Punjab, came from humble beginnings, selling milk in his youth before graduating in political science. His journey into finance reportedly began in the 1970s, when he moved to Calcutta and worked at a mutual fund firm. He later joined a Haryana-based firm involved in investor fraud before launching his own company in 1980.
His company, Pearls Golden Forest (PGF), grew rapidly and raked in millions of rupees before it was shut down due to income tax investigations in 1996. Undaunted, Bhangoo went on to set up Pearls Infrastructure Projects Ltd, ARSS Infrastructure Projects Ltd and Jain Infra Projects Ltd. However, these companies also attracted the attention of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as complaints began to pile up.
Bhangoo’s business model relied heavily on a vast network of over 2.3 million brokers, including over 1,700 senior field officers, who were handsomely rewarded for attracting investors. The Pearls Group even became a prominent sponsor of the Kabaddi World Cup, organised by the Shiromani Akali Dal-led Punjab government between 2010 and 2013.
On 19 February 2014, the CBI filed a case against Bhangoo and other key figures of the Pearls Group, uncovering a massive scam in which fake land allotment letters were issued to dupe investors, leading to the collection of billions of rupees. Bhangoo was subsequently arrested in 2016.
In a bid to recover funds for the duped investors, the Supreme Court set up the RM Lodha panel to oversee the sale of Pearls Group properties. According to the panel’s website, refunds have been issued to investors who had invested up to Rs 19,000.
However, the recovery process was marred by other complications. Punjab police revealed that despite the Supreme Court ban, the Pearls Group illegally sold properties worth Rs 1.2 billion. Moreover, a major portion of the money was siphoned off through shell companies and invested in Australian companies, worth around A$132.99 million.
In September 2023, the Punjab Vigilance Bureau arrested Bhangoo’s wife Prem Kaur for her alleged involvement in the case. She was accused of siphoning off Pearls Group assets and violating Supreme Court orders by appointing a close relative to facilitate the sale of properties.
First published: August 27, 2024 | 12:18 pm IS
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