Harsatinder Pal Singh Hayer, the son-in-law of the late Nirmal Singh Bhangoo, founder of the Pearls Group, has been arrested under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) for his alleged involvement in the Rs 48,000 crore PACL Ponzi scheme, one of India’s largest financial frauds.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) reported that Hayer played a key role in managing PACL’s operations after Bhangoo’s arrest by the CBI in 2016. Along with his wife, Barinder Kaur, and mother-in-law, Prem Kaur, Hayer allegedly floated several new companies using the names of relatives and domestic workers to conceal ownership and continue the fraudulent activities. Bhangoo passed away in August 2023.
PACL, a subsidiary of the Pearls Group, is accused of defrauding over 5.5 crore investors through promises of agricultural plots and high returns. The ED uncovered that Hayer was a director in PACL-related Australian entities—Pearls Australasia Pty Ltd and Australasia Mirage I-Pty Ltd—through which Rs 657.18 crore was siphoned off and invested in Australian real estate, directly violating a 2016 Supreme Court order that prohibited the sale or transfer of PACL assets.
As part of its crackdown, the ED has attached assets worth Rs 462 crore in Australia and Rs 244 crore in India. These assets have been handed over to the Justice RM Lodha Committee, tasked with overseeing the disposal of assets and refunding the defrauded investors. A chargesheet was filed in 2021 following an FIR lodged in Ferozepur in 2020, with fifty-five individuals, including family members and company executives, booked for cheating, conspiracy, and other IPC offences.
This arrest marks a significant step in the ongoing efforts to dismantle one of India’s biggest corporate scams and ensure justice for the millions affected by this financial fraud.
