CBI arrests 11 people over Rs 60k-cr investment scam linked to Pearls group

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The CBI has arrested 11 people in connection with around Rs 60,000 crore investment scam allegedly run by the Pearls group, officials said on Thursday.

The arrests were made from Delhi, Chandigarh, Kolkata, Bhubaneswar among other places, the CBI said in a statement.

According to the probe agency, the case pertains to the alleged collection of around Rs 60,000 crore from around 5.5 crore investors across the country by operating different investment schemes, without any statutory approval and with a motive of duping the investors.

"It was alleged that the arrested accused were the co-conspirators in this scam, who aided the prime accused and others in illegally operating investment schemes for earning quick and easy money," CBI spokesperson R C Joshi said.

They induced people to invest in such schemes which offered lucrative returns and thereafter aided the prime accused and others in the diversion of such funds through dubious means with the motive of misappropriation, he said.

Those arrested include Pearls group executives Chander Bhushan Dhillon, Prem Seth, Manmohan Kamal Mahajan, Mohanlal Sehajpal and Kanwaljit Singh Toor, officials said.

Businessmen Praveen Kumar Agarwal, Mannoj Kumar Jain, Akash Agarwal, Anil Kumar Khemka Subhash Agarwal and Rajesh Agarwal were also arrested from Delhi, Chandigarh, Kolkata, Bhubaneshwar etc, they said.

They were produced before a special court on Thursday which sent eight of them to CBI custody while the remaining three were sent in judicial custody.

The CBI had arrested Nirmal Singh Bhangoo, CMD of Pearls Golden Forest Ltd (PGF) and ex-chairman of Pearls Australasia Pty Limited, along with Sukhdev Singh, MD and Promoter-Director of Pearls Agrotech Corporation Ltd (PACL), Gurmeet Singh, Executive Director (Finance) and Subrata Bhattacharya, ED in the PGF/PACL on January 8, 2016.

"To investigate the role of other accused/suspects in this multi-thousand crore financial scam, which had adversely affected the interests of millions of investors, further investigation of the case was continued," Joshi said.

The investigation also revealed that the accused persons fraudulently diverted the alleged funds collected under the aegis of a Jaipur-based private company for purported investment in Australian companies. It has been alleged that around Australian Dollar 132.99 mn (approximately) was found to have been diverted to Australian companies, he said.