Mumbai, Oct 1 (SocialNews.XYZ) The ED attached office spaces and luxury hotels among 211 immovable properties, amounting to Rs 646.58 crore, in Goa, Maharashtra, Kerala and six other states in connection with Ponzi schemes floated by Pancard Clubs, an official said on Thursday.
The action by the Enforcement Directorate (ED)'s Mumbai Zonal Office was targeted at the accused who established a network of 46 corporate entities under the Panoramic Group to float illegal Ponzi schemes under the façade of "Sale of Room Nights" and timeshare holiday memberships, inducing more than 51 lakh gullible investors across India with promises of unrealistic returns.
The ED has now provisionally attached 211 immovable properties amounting to Rs 646.58 crore under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, in the case of Pancard Clubs Limited and Others, a statement said.
"The provisionally attached assets comprise commercial office spaces, luxury hotels, operational resorts, agricultural lands, and residential properties located across Maharashtra, Kerala, Uttarakhand, Goa, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli," the ED said.
These properties are held in the names of Pancard Clubs Limited (PCL), Panoramic Universal Limited, their various subsidiary concerns, as well as family members and beneficial owners, the ED added.
The ED investigation was initiated under the provisions of the PMLA, 2002, based on an FIR registered by Dadar Police Station in Mumbai (later Economic Offences Wing of Mumbai Police) against Pancard Clubs Limited and others.
The EOW of Mumbai Police subsequently filed a charge sheet on December 31, 2021, before the Special Court (Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors) in Mumbai.
"Investigation conducted by the ED revealed PCL fraudulently collected Rs 9,577 crore from investors between 1997-98 and 2017-18. Out of the total collections, only Rs 2,858 crore was returned to depositors, while Rs 2,332 crore was paid as agent commissions, leaving Rs 4,387 crore as proceeds of crime retained and diverted by the accused entities and key individuals," the ED said.
Investigation revealed that the illegal funds were systematically layered through various shell/dummy companies, including Shagun Tradelinks Private Limited, and injected into accused entities such as Panoramic Universal Limited and its domestic and overseas subsidiaries, the ED said in the statement.
These proceeds of crime were subsequently integrated to acquire high-value real estate properties, resorts, and commercial units across India and abroad in the names of group companies, directors, and their family members, projecting them as untainted properties, the ED said.
Investigation also revealed a deliberate attempt to frustrate legal proceedings through the fraudulent alienation of assets previously attached by SEBI and the Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors (MPID) authorities, the central agency added.
An immovable property admeasuring 7.03 hectares at Kalhe village in Panvel in Raigad was unauthorisedly sold, despite the existing attachment orders by SEBI and the MPID competent authority, the ED said.
This transaction was executed using a forged Board Resolution bearing the signature of a deceased director and prompt provisional attachment action was therefore taken under Section 5(1) of PMLA to prevent further unlawful transfers/alienation of properties, the ED added.
Earlier, the ED had issued provisional attachment in 2025, attaching 30 immovable properties situated outside India (in the US, the UAE, and Thailand) valued at Rs 54.31 crore, belonging to the foreign subsidiaries of Panoramic Universal Limited and Late Sudhir Moravekar, which was confirmed by the Adjudicating Authority (PMLA) on September 9, 2025.
Accordingly, the total value of proceeds of crime provisionally attached under PMLA by ED in this case so far stands at Rs 700.89 crore, the central agency said.
Source: IANS
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