ED attaches Rs 472 crore PACL assets in Australia

NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate has attached assets worth Rs 472 crore in Australia in a money laundering case against PACL Ltd and group companies allegedly involved in a ponzi scam where the CBI had registered an FIR against the accused for duping investors to the tune of Rs 57,000 crore.
The ED probe revealed that the PACL had collected funds from investors all over the country through a collective investment scheme in the garb of sale and development of agriculture land.

"Out of the funds collected, PACL Ltd through its 43 front companies invested Rs 650 crore in its group company PIPL which further invested these proceeds in companies situated in Australia," a senior ED official said.

The front companies of PACL further acquired properties in Australia. In May 2010, one of the front companies of PACL purchased Sheraton Mirage Hotel for approximately 62.5 million Australian dollars and further sold the same to Australian Wattle Development Pty Ltd.

This proceeds of sale (AUD 87.37 million equivalent to approx Rs 447 crore) were received by McCullough Robertson lawyers and invested in an interest bearing account with an Australian bank. Two of the front entities of PACL in Australia, Miiresorts Group 1Pty Ltd and Miigroup Holdings Pty Ltd, are controlled by Nirmal Singh Bhangoo, the chairman of the PACL group, and his family members, according to ED.