Gurnam Singh, 69, a director at Pearls Agro-Tech Corporation Limited (PACL), was arrested on July 11 by the Uttar Pradesh Economic Offences Wing in Rupnagar, Punjab. His arrest marks a major development in one of India’s biggest financial scams, involving a staggering ₹49,000 crore allegedly raised from nearly five crore people in the name of land investments.
Gurnam Singh was a close aide of PACL founder Nirmal Singh Bhangoo and served as a key figure in the company’s expansion during the years it operated its fraudulent schemes. Originally registered as Guruvant Agro-Tech in 1996 and later renamed Pearls Agro-Tech, PACL ran an unregistered collective investment operation across at least ten Indian states including Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi, Bihar, and Kerala.
Under Singh’s directorship, PACL promised investors plots of agricultural land in exchange for recurring and fixed deposits. However, most investors neither received land nor returns. Authorities say that in Uttar Pradesh alone, PACL collected over ₹19,000 crore through a web of branches in districts like Sultanpur, Mahoba, Jalaun, and Farrukhabad.
In 2016, Gurnam Singh had previously been arrested in a related CBI case filed in Delhi and was later granted bail. Investigators now believe that he evaded further arrest by living discreetly at a farmhouse in Punjab. His name also appeared in ED and SEBI investigations that revealed the diversion of funds into benami companies and assets, including real estate acquired through shell firms connected to PACL’s top brass.
The arrest comes after renewed pressure from thousands of investors awaiting justice. FIRs against Gurnam Singh and others include charges of cheating, forgery, breach of trust, and criminal conspiracy under various IPC sections.
As authorities dig deeper, Gurnam Singh’s role is being viewed as more than just administrative. He is accused of directly managing investor funds, controlling false documentation, and facilitating illegal land deals through fraudulent means. His arrest is expected to trigger more revelations in a scam that has shaken public confidence in informal investment schemes.
