Co-operative societies of Pearls Group are still duping gullible investors, promising high returns of their investments and plot of lands besides marketing of farm produce among other things. Even though the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had swooped down on this dubious group of companies in 2014, the agents of Pearls Group are continuing their nefarious operations with impunity, says a report from India Today.
The agents, who once acted for the group’s massive Ponzi business, are now running cooperative societies and accepting deposits from unsuspecting people. And these unscrupulous operatives are functioning across several states, from the same properties that belong to the Pearls Group.
It appears that the Pearls Group has registered four cooperative societies – Parakram Multi-state Credit Cooperative Society; Navketan Agricultural Marketing Cooperative Society; Kisan Agro-Tech Cooperative Society ; and Lotus Agricultural and Marketing Cooperative Society.
Barnala-based Pearls Group agent Sukhvinder Singh said the group is collecting money through Lotus Agricultural and Marketing Cooperative Society and Mes-Meric. He, along with other agents in Punjab, have so far collected about Rs.150 crore.
According to a Bhavnagar based former agent of the Group, the agents of the group’s cooperative societies tell gullible people that the Union government owns the societies. Those who are coaxed to invest are mostly small traders and shopkeepers. The agents operate in those areas where there is not much penetration of media and people are unaware of Ponzi scams.
Parakram Multi-state Credit Cooperative Society has purchased agricultural lands in Maharashtra and Gujarat. It is accepting money for fixed deposits, starting from Rs.50,000. It’s being promised that the money will get doubled in six years.