Shillong, Jan 17: Thirteen more persons have been made accused by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the Pearlvine International ponzi scheme case that took roots in Meghalaya.
The ED Shillong Sub Zonal Office has filed a Supplementary Prosecution Complaint against the 13 accused persons in the case under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
The accused were allegedly involved in the Ponzi scheme, defrauding investors of at least Rs 395 crore.
Sources said the ED initiated investigation on the basis of FIR registered by CID, Meghalaya Police based on a complaint by RBI, Shillong.
In its main complaint filed in 2024, the ED framed charges against one Parvesh Saroha, along with Sony Chyrmang and Khroborme Chyrmang, for allegedly promoting the Ponzi scheme in Meghalaya.
Parvesh Saroha hosted the website www.pearlvine.com which was bought by the scam mastermind Neeraj Kumar Gupta way back in 2015.
Gupta conducted several seminars of Pearlvine International in India as well as in Thailand for promoting the ponzi scheme operated through the website.
It collected a minimum of Rs 2,250 as membership fees and ran the ponzi scheme in India during its operations from 2018 to 2023.
During this period, several seminars were organized all around the country soliciting membership and popularizing its benefits.
At one point of time in 2022, Pearlvine International claimed a membership of 80 lakh members in India and abroad.
Investigation revealed that the total PoC collected in the name of Pearlvine International (www.pearlvine.com) is Rs 1,575 crore and at least Rs 395.35 crore have been defrauded.
The total attachment done by ED in this case so far is Rs 54.98 crore. Further investigation is under progress.
