ED attaches ₹567.45 crore worth of properties in PACL case; total attachments touch ₹30,235 crore
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached 48 immovable properties, currently valued at ₹567.45 crore, in connection with the PACL case. The properties are located in Pune, Mumbai and Raigad district of Maharashtra.
The agency said on Thursday that the assets stand in the names of accused Prateek Kumar, his son Ansh, and three companies — Beaming Infradevelopers Private Limited, Ganraj Properties Private Limited and Greenfield Estates Limited.
With this action, the total value of assets attached by the ED in India and abroad in the case now stands at about ₹30,235.21 crore.
The ED's investigation is based on a First Information Report registered, and charge-sheets filed, by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against 33 accused persons. According to the agency, the accused individuals and entities operated an illegal collective investment scheme and fraudulently mobilised more than ₹48,000 crore from lakhs of investors across India on the pretext of sale and development of agricultural land.
Mr. Kumar has been named as an accused in the first supplementary prosecution complaint filed by the ED on August 20, 2022. The court concerned issued an open-ended non-bailable warrant against him on April 9, 2025.
What a provisional attachment means
Under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the ED can provisionally attach property it believes to be proceeds of crime. The step is temporary in nature. It must be confirmed by the Adjudicating Authority under the Act within the period prescribed by law, and it does not by itself establish guilt or transfer ownership of the property to the government. Those affected can challenge the action before the Adjudicating Authority and, subsequently, the Appellate Tribunal and the courts.
Why the case matters to investors
The PACL matter relates to a collective investment scheme that regulators found had collected money from the public without the required approvals. Such schemes, which promise returns linked to land or agriculture, have drawn regulatory scrutiny because the sums collected are often not backed by the assets investors believe they are purchasing.
For depositors, the attachment of properties is significant because recovered assets are what ultimately fund refunds. In this case, amounts running into thousands of crores remain to be returned to lakhs of investors, and the pace of attachment and recovery has been a recurring point of concern.
The ED has not indicated whether further attachments are expected. Thursday's action concerns only the 48 properties identified in Pune, Mumbai and Raigad.
All persons named in the ED's complaints are accused in a case that is still under investigation and before the courts. Under Indian law, an accused is presumed innocent unless a competent court holds otherwise, and the allegations remain to be proved.
