Probe under way into Rs 1,575-cr investment fraud run through a website operated from Shillong under the banner of Pearlvine International between
2018 and March 2023
SHILLONG, Dec 12: The Enforcement Directorate (ED), Shillong Sub-Zonal Office, has provisionally attached assets worth Rs 17.91 crore in connection with a large-scale investment fraud run through the website www.pearlvine.com, operated from Shillong under the banner of Pearlvine International.
The attachment was made on December 10 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
According to the ED, the seized assets include 13 immovable properties and seven movable properties, among them luxury vehicles allegedly acquired using proceeds of the scam.
The investigation was initiated on the basis of an FIR filed by the CID, Meghalaya Police, following a complaint lodged by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Shillong.
A charge sheet has already been filed under various sections of the Indian Penal Code against individuals involved in the scheme.
Pearlvine International, which falsely presented itself as a U.S.-based entity, offered “high-return” investment options and collected a minimum membership fee of Rs 2,250.
The group is alleged to have operated a nationwide Ponzi scheme between 2018 and March 2023, conducting seminars across India and Thailand to lure new members. At its peak in 2022, the organisation claimed to have 80 lakh members in India and abroad.
ED officials said the probe revealed that Neeraj Kumar Gupta was the key architect behind the scam and had purchased the domain pearlvine.com as early as November 2015. Gupta also organised promotional seminars both in India and Thailand.
The website’s design and hosting were handled by Parvesh Saroha, whose properties worth Rs 7.82 crore had already been attached in an earlier action.
Investigators estimate that Pearlvine International collected at least Rs 1,575 crore from unsuspecting investors, of which Rs 395.35 crore has not been returned. The illicit proceeds were largely invested in land and other assets.
With the latest attachment of Rs 17.91 crore, the total assets seized by the ED in the case so far stands at Rs 54.98 crore, including earlier attachments worth Rs 37.07 crore.
Further investigation is under way.
