In one of its largest enforcement actions to date, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached 169 immovable properties valued at ₹3,436 crore as part of its ongoing money-laundering probe into PACL Ltd and related entities, people familiar with the matter said.

The action, taken under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), follows an earlier attachment of PACL-linked properties in Ludhiana this week, according to a report by ET.

The money-laundering investigation was initiated on the basis of a first information report registered by the CBI in February 2014 against PACL Ltd, PGF Ltd, late Nirmal Singh Bhangoo and others on charges of cheating and criminal conspiracy.

The case relates to alleged large-scale fraudulent collective investment schemes floated by PACL, through which about ₹48,000 crore was deceitfully mobilised from lakhs of investors. The amount has been classified as proceeds of crime under the PMLA.

Explaining the modus operandi, sources said PACL and PGF, under the control of Bhangoo and his close associates, ran illegal collective investment schemes in violation of applicable laws.

“More than ₹68,000 crore was fraudulently mobilised from investors across India under the guise of sale and development of agricultural land,” an official said.

Investors were offered cash down payment and instalment plans and induced to sign misleading documents such as agreements, special powers of attorney and testamentary instruments, sources said. Registration and allotment letters were issued despite the companies not owning or controlling many of the plots claimed to have been allotted. In most cases, investors neither received possession of land nor legitimate returns.