Chandigarh, Jul 18 (PTI) The Punjab Vigilance Bureau on Tuesday said it has arrested a chartered accountant for allegedly verifying fake documents in connection with the Pearls Agrotech Corporation Limited scam.

A special investigation team of the bureau is investigating the scam by the Pearl Group -- a chit fund company.

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A bureau spokesperson said an extraordinary general meeting of Pearls Agrotech Corporation Limited was shown to be held at its registered office in Rajasthan's Jaipur, which closed seven-eight years ago, where three new directors were appointed using forged documents.

Jaswinder Singh Dang, a chartered accountant, verified the fake documents regarding the appointment of Hirdeypal Singh Dhillon, Sandeep Singh Mahal and Dharmendra Singh Sandhu as directors as genuine. He also uploaded the documents on the Union Ministry of Corporate Affairs' website despite having knowledge that the meeting did not take place, said the spokesperson.

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The Pearl Group allegedly cheated many people in various parts of the country, including Punjab, by illegally operating different investment schemes.

Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, during his election campaign, had promised that after the formation of the AAP government, the hard-earned money of the victims of the Ponzi scam would be returned by confiscating assets of chit fund companies.

Last month, Mann said the state government had begun the process of confiscating and selling land owned by Pearl Group to compensate the duped people.

The state government had also said that efforts would be made by the Vigilance Bureau, in coordination with the Justice Lodha Committee set up by the Supreme Court, to return the investments of the maximum number of duped investors.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)