The Enforcement Directorate (ED) announced on Thursday that it has frozen 30 assets located in the United States, the United Arab Emirates, and Thailand as part of an investigation into a money laundering case associated with an alleged investors’ fraud involving the ‘Pan card club’, amounting to over ₹5,000 crore.
Details of the Investigation
These assets are provisionally attached under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and are registered under the names of overseas subsidiaries of Panoramic Universal Ltd, based in Mumbai, and the late Sudhir Moravekar, who is implicated in the case, according to a statement from the agency.
The ED reported that these properties were acquired through payments totaling ₹54.32 crore made between 2002 and 2015.
Location of Attached Properties
The breakdown of the attached properties is as follows:
- Thailand: 22 assets
- UAE: 6 assets
- USA: 2 assets
Background of the Fraud Case
This investigation is linked to the ‘Pancard Clubs investment’ scam, initiated following a First Information Report (FIR) filed by the Maharashtra Police. The ED alleges that from 1997 to 2017, Pan Card Limited unlawfully gathered investments from approximately 5.1 million investors across India, failing to return over ₹5,000 crore to many of them.
Legal Action Taken
The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) has submitted a charge-sheet against Pan Card Limited, Panoramic Universal Ltd, and 44 other related firms, along with six directors and five marketing representatives of PCL, under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors Act.
Findings of the ED
The ED’s investigation revealed that around ₹99 crore from the “proceeds of crime” was transferred from Pan Card Limited to Panoramic Universal Ltd, as well as to the personal accounts of Moravekar’s family members. Notably, in 2002, a hotel was purchased in New Zealand through overseas direct investment by Panoramic Universal Ltd. This asset was subsequently sold, and the New Zealand subsidiary was closed without proper notification to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
Furthermore, investments were made overseas in countries including the USA, UAE, Thailand, and Singapore, with remittances of about ₹100 crore sent during the period from 2002 to 2014.
The agency also noted that assets were obtained in the names of these offshore subsidiaries while both sons of Moravekar were reportedly planning to sell certain properties located in the US and UAE.