Milkman to Rs 1.83L crore Pearls boss, lonely end for Nirmal Bhangoo

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 26

Nirmal Bhangoo, who rose from being a milkman at a village in Chamkaur Sahib, Ropar, to run the Rs 1.83 lakh crore worth Pearls Group of companies, died a lonely death in police custody at a Delhi hospital after his health deteriorated in Tihar Jail.

He had lost his son in a road accident in 2011 and is survived by two daughters, who are in Australia. His wife, Prem Kaur, is also in jail.

Ponzi scam: Wife also behind bars

• Nirmal Bhangoo lost son in a road accident in 2011 and is survived by two daughters, who are in Australia. His wife, Prem Kaur, is also in jail
• Bhangoo’s chit fund schemes allegedly duped over 5.5 crore investors of around ~45,000 crore (~60,000 crore according to investors)
• So far, 21 lakh investors have received refunds; the Justice Lodha Committee was formed in 2015 to oversee refund to the investors

Bhangoo’s chit fund schemes allegedly duped over 5.5 crore investors of around Rs 45,000 crore (Rs 60,000 crore as per investors).

So far, 21 lakh investors have received refunds of their investment. The Justice Lodha Committee, monitored by the SC, was formed in 2015 to oversee and sell the frozen properties of the Pearls Group to refund the amount to the investors.

The investors, who formed an organisation called the All Investor Safety Organisation, have been organising dharnas and protests claiming that a vast majority has not yet received refunds.

Darshan Singh, a spokesperson for the organisation, said the next dharna was scheduled for September 6 at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi.

“Only 21 lakh investors, who made small investments of about Rs 19,000, have been compensated, he said.”

Darshan had invested Rs 50 lakh in instalments. “Many have lost their lifetime savings,” he said.

Bhangoo was a big shot during the SAD-BJP tenure. He provided Rs 35 crore for funding kabaddi tournaments, besides roping in famous cricketer Bret Lee to publicise his hotel in Australia.

He also funded teams in golf leagues, besides super fight leagues. When the scam was busted, during incarceration, he stayed at a private hospital in Mohali rather than a jail. He was sent to jail following an expose by The Tribune about him staying at a hospital instead of a jail.

Bhangoo used to supply milk door to door in his younger days at Bela near Attari in Chamkaur Sahib, Ropar, before he moved to Kolkata in the late 1970s where he worked for Peerless, a chit fund company, and later for Golden Forest India Ltd, where he learned the intricacies of the chit fund business.

In 1980, Bhangoo founded Pearls Golden Forest Ltd (PGFL), which promised high returns on investments in teak plantations. In 1982, he founded his own company called Pearls Agrotech Corporation Limited (PACL). By 1996, he had amassed significant wealth but had to shut down the company due to investigations. Undeterred, he launched the PACL and continued his operations, eventually becoming a multimillionaire with assets in India and abroad, including Australia.

The Pearls Group, through its subsidiaries PACL and PGFL, also offered guarantees of agricultural land, promised interest rates of 12.5%, free accidental insurance and tax-free maturity on investments.

However, these promises were part of a Ponzi scheme, where returns to earlier investors were paid from the capital of new investors, rather than from profit earned by the company. By early 2010, payments started delaying, leading to the unrest among the investors, whose number grew beyond 5.5 crore. In 2014, first FIRs were registered by the investors in Gwalior, where the chit fund company was banned. In 2016, the CBI arrested Bhangoo and several of his associates.