Court summons ex-Pearls Group head Nirmal Singh Bhangoo kin in money laundering case
New Delhi, A Delhi court has summoned the son-in-law of late Pearls Group chairperson Nirmal Singh Bhangoo in a money laundering investigation linked to an alleged ₹ 48,000 crore Ponzi scheme in which numerous investors were duped. Court summons ex-Pearls Group head Nirmal Singh Bhangoo kin in money laundering case
Special judge Jagdish Kumar directed Bhangoo's son-in-law Harsatinder Pal Singh Hayer to appear before the court on July 18.
Hayer was arrested by the ED in March and is currently in judicial custody.
The judge on June 9 found prima-facie sufficient material on record against Hayer.
"I have gone through the documents and statements of the witnesses carefully....prima-facie, there are sufficient material on record against Harsatinder Pal Singh Hayer and MBD Housing Complex Private Limited for the offence of money laundering... to summon them as an accused. Let they be summoned for July 18, 2025," the judge said.
The money laundering investigation of 2015 stems from a CBI FIR against against Pearls Agrotech Corporation Limited India Limited, PGF Limited, Bhangoo and others for operating "fraudulent" investment schemes to deceive the investors.
The chargesheet, filed through ED's special public prosecutor along with advocate Faizan Khan, alleged through these schemes, PACL and its directors "defrauded" the investors for about ₹ 48,000 crore.
Hayer was a director in several associate companies of PACL Limited, including two Australian entities Pearls Australasia Pty Ltd and Australasia Mirage I-Pty Ltd, the ED said.
PACL and its associates diverted ₹ 657.18 crore of "proceeds of crime" to these Australian entities "controlled" by Hayer, the ED alleged.
These funds were then "invested" by the Australian companies in various real estate properties in Australia.
Hayer was also "dissipating" the properties of PACL and its related entities "in violation" of a Supreme Court order of July 25, 2016, it said.
The ED has attached assets worth ₹ 706 crore, including ₹ 462 crore worth two immovable properties in Australia, and has filed two chargesheets against PACL, Bhangoo and others.
"These asset details have been shared with the Justice Lodha Committee, appointed by the Supreme Court, for overseeing the process of property disposal and restituting the money to investors," the ED said.
Bhangoo died in August last year.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
an hour ago
- Business Standard
Bhushan Steel's former resolution professional files review petition in SC
The former resolution professional (RP) for debt-laden Bhushan Power and Steel (BPSL), Mahender Khandelwal, has filed a review petition in the Supreme Court (SC), which had earlier rejected the resolution plan of JSW Steel and ordered liquidation. Khandelwal filed the petition on Friday, arguing that the apex court had overlooked certain critical documents and procedural compliances and committed certain 'errors apparent' while recording the judgment. On the matter of verifying the eligibility of the successful resolution applicant (in this case JSW Steel) under Section 29A of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), Khandelwal has claimed that a thorough and independent verification was conducted. A leading third-party consultancy firm was appointed to assess JSW Steel's eligibility, and the findings were shared with the committee of creditors (CoC) of BPSL, with no objections raised. On 2 May, the Supreme Court delivered its judgment, pointing to 'an entire spectrum of lacunas and flaws' in the resolution plan of JSW Steel regarding non-compliance with mandatory requirements under the IBC. The verdict came four years after JSW Steel had acquired BPSL under the IBC. The apex court criticised both the RP and the CoC. It held that the RP had failed to discharge his statutory duties under the IBC and the corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) regulations. The CoC, it said, had failed to exercise its commercial wisdom and approved a resolution plan that contravened mandatory IBC provisions. Lenders including the State Bank of India and Punjab National Bank have already filed review petitions before the Supreme Court. On 25 June, JSW Steel, too, filed a review petition. In his plea, Khandelwal contended that the joint shareholding of BPSL and JSW Steel in a joint venture entity had been disclosed in the resolution plan and formed part of the record before the Supreme Court. He also submitted that the required compliance certificate (Form H) was filed along with the application seeking approval of the resolution plan before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), and was part of the court record. Khandelwal further stated that an appropriate application had been made for the extension of the CIRP period beyond 180 days, and the relief was granted by the NCLT. The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), he noted, had directed the exclusion of the time spent on litigation from the computation of the 270-day CIRP period. Therefore, the resolution plan approval application filed by the RP was submitted before the expiry of the 270-day CIRP period, Khandelwal said. The Supreme Court is expected to take up the review petition once it resumes after the summer recess on 14 July. JSW Steel is also expected to cite what it claims are factual errors in the original order in its review petition.
NDTV
4 hours ago
- NDTV
Marriage Proposal, Rs 3.6 Crore Fraud: Indian-Origin Man Cheats Pune Woman
Pune: An Indian-origin man based in Australia has been arrested by Pune Police for allegedly creating a fake profile on a matrimonial website and cheating a woman here of Rs 3.6 crore after promising to marry her. Police on Thursday also appealed other women who might have fallen prey to a similar fraud by the conman, who posed as 'Dr Rohit Oberoi', to come forward and file a complaint. The accused, whose real name is Abhishek Shukla and who hails from Lucknow but holds an Australian passport, was arrested at the Mumbai airport on Wednesday. "The woman, originally from Delhi and currently living in Pune, had created a profile on a matrimonial portal, seeking a life partner. The accused contacted her sometime in 2023, befriended her, and won her trust by promising marriage," said Pankaj Deshmukh, Additional Commissioner of Police (crime). The two stayed together at various locations in Pune and other parts of India. "The woman had received Rs 5 crore as alimony from her previous marriage and was in the process of setting up a business focused on mindfulness and spirituality programs for children. Learning about her financial status, the accused lured her into a fake business proposal, claiming he would help take her venture to the international level and arrange funding," Mr Deshmukh said. Mr Shukla allegedly introduced the woman to two of his 'associates', 'Yvonne Handayani' and 'Vincent Kuan' who purportedly lived in Singapore, and convinced her to transfer money to various accounts in India and Singapore. Over a period, the woman transferred Rs 3,60,18,540, said the police official. Later, the accused claimed to have developed oral cancer, and gradually cut off contact with her. "In September 2024, the woman received an email from 'Vincent Kuan' stating that 'Dr Rohit Oberoi' had died. Suspecting wrong doing, she informed a friend, who alerted her to the possibility of a found out that she had been conned, and approached the Pune cyber police station in November 2024," additional commissioner Deshmukh said. The police ascertained that the accused's real name was Abhishek Shukla, and he was a resident of Perth, Australia. A case of cheating was registered and a Look-Out Circular (LOC) was issued against him. On Wednesday, police received information that he was arriving in Mumbai from Singapore. A team led by sub-inspector Sushil Damre apprehended Mr Shukla at the Mumbai airport and put him under arrest. "Technical analysis of the accused's digital activity showed he had messaged at least 3,194 women using the fake identity 'Dr Rohit Oberoi' through the matrimonial site. The scope of the fraud may be much larger, and further investigations are underway," Deshmukh said. Senior inspector Swapnali Shinde of Pune Cyber Police, who is investigating the case, appealed to the women who might have been conned by the accused to contact police through email ID and phone number 7058719371/75.
Time of India
5 hours ago
- Time of India
Medical Professionals are Australia's highest paid, ATO data reveals; check top-paying jobs in the country
Live Events What are the highest-paid jobs in Australia? Surgeon: $472,475 (up $12,119) Anaesthetists: $447,193 (up $16,000) Financial dealer: $355,233 (down $18,500) Internal medicine specialist: $342,457 (up $1,728) Psychiatrist: $286,146 (up $9,601) Other medical practitioners: $259,802 (up $4,048) Mining engineer: $206,423 (down $7,942) Judicial or other legal professional: $206,408 (up $1,474) Chief executive officer or managing director: $194,987 (down $2,733) Financial investment advisor or manager: $191,986 (up $6,152) (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has released the data on the tax return data of millions of Aussies during financial year 2022-23, giving a glimpse of the massive incomes garnered by some professions. The data has also thrown light upon the highest-paying jobs in the list is led by surgeons who have managed to retain the top spot, earning more than $470,000 per year on average. There are reportedly only 4,247 surgeons in the country, which signifies that they are minting more than six times the average taxable income of $74,240 over the same second position in the ATO list was also bagged by medical professionals, with anesthesiologists who took home $447,193 on average annually. Notably, there are a mere 3,658 workers across the the third spot, following two taken by healthcare professionals, come financial dealers, who were the highest-paid non-medical role. They earned an average of $355,233 a year with a workforce of 5,147 people across the country. Financial dealers carry out financial market transactions on behalf of clients and include to the 2022-23 ATO data, the top-paying job with the most people was chief executive officers and managing directors. There were a whopping 231,103 people in this job amassing an average of around $194,987 a is pertinent to mention that the list of highest-paying jobs during the financial year 2022-23 remained the same as in previous income years, but notably, incomes have gone up for most of the top 10 highest-paid jobs and how much their incomes have increased since the previous year's statisticsAccording to the latest ATO data, the average Australian income was $74,240 a year. This was up from $72,327 a year. The median income was $55,868 for the 2022-23 income tax. This was up from $53,041 per year from the year prior.
