ED Attaches Rs 1,986 Crore PACL Assets in Ponzi Scheme Probe

• The Enforcement Directorate (ED) provisionally attached new properties worth over Rs 1,986 crore belonging to PACL (Pearls Group).
• These assets, located in Ludhiana, Punjab, and Jaipur, Rajasthan, were acquired using alleged illicit funds from a Rs 48,000 crore Ponzi scheme.
• The latest attachment increases the total value of seized assets in the PACL money laundering case to Rs 7,589 crore.
• PACL is accused of fraudulently mobilizing over Rs 60,000 crore from investors under the guise of selling agricultural land, with Rs 48,000 crore still unpaid.
• The ED's probe, initiated in 2016, stems from a CBI case against PACL Ltd and its late promoter Nirmal Singh Bhangoo.

Why It Matters: ED seizes additional PACL assets worth Rs 1,986 crore, bringing total attachments to Rs 7,589 crore.