CBI begins handing over Pearls group asset docs to Lodha panel

Admin   |   02 April, 2016   |   1784   |   3980

NEW DELHI: CBI today started the process of handing over documents of over Rs 5,000 crore worth of assets and 79 luxury cars of Pearls' Group, seized by it, to the Supreme Court-appointed R M Lodha Committee looking into the issue of refund of money to investors of the company.



CBI sources said the agency had recovered about 20,000 documents related to the group's properties estimated to be about Rs 5,000 crore which was said to be in addition to the 66 offices located in posh areas here.



They said the agency had also taken into its possession original documents of 79 luxury cars from PGF and PACL which included Rolls Royce, Porsche Cayenne, Bentley, BMW 7-series which will also be handed over to the committee.

The sources said Rs 108 crore which has been frozen by CBI and deposited at the Delhi High Court in the case will also be handed over to the Lodha committee.



The Supreme Court on February 2 had appointed the expert committee headed by the former Chief Justice of India to monitor the sales of assets and refund of money to the investors of PACL.



A bench, comprising justices Anil Dave and Adarsh Goel, had said that the title deeds of various lands belonging to PACL should be handed over by the CBI to the SEBI, which shall accordingly take appropriate steps to ensure their sale for the purpose of refunding the money to the investors.



The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has initiated recovery proceedings against PACL Ltd and its promoters and directors, including Nirmal Singh Bhangoo, for their failure to refund Rs 49,100 crore to investors.



Earlier, the SEBI had passed a refund order against the various group companies of PACL after finding them guilty of illegitimately pooling funds from the public through a collective investment scheme.



SEBI has found that PACL had collected money from crores of investors through unauthorised collective investment schemes in the name of real estate projects. It is also said to have been involved in agricultural land-related schemes.



The plea was filed by PACL Customers and Employees Association seeking a direction to the SEBI to initiate proceedings against PACL for allegedly swindling around Rs 500 crore from various investors in Kerala.