•Nirmal Singh Bhangoo, a former milk vendor, orchestrated the 60,000 crore PACL (Pearl Agrotech Corporation Limited) scam, targeting over 55 million middle-class investors.
•The company operated a Ponzi scheme, promising to quadruple money in 10 years or offer agricultural land, using new investor funds to pay older ones.
•ED recently seized 126 immovable properties worth Rs 5,046.91 crore in Punjab and Delhi, bringing the total seized assets in the case to Rs 22,656.91 crore.
•PACL employed 7 million agents to lure investors with promises of tax-free "agricultural income," collecting over Rs 60,000 crore, with Rs 48,000 crore still owed.
•The Supreme Court declared PACL a Collective Investment Scheme, giving SEBI authority; Bhangoo was arrested in 2016, and investigations revealed assets in Australia and suspicious bank accounts.
