Rs 500 Crore Ponzi Scam: Chargesheet Filed Against Nowhera Shaikh

Economic Offences Wing (EOW) officials in Mumbai have filed the first chargesheet against Nowhera Shaikh, the managing director of the Hyderabad-based Heera Gold group, in a ponzi scheme case. The EOW completed the probe into the Rs 500 crore scam and filed a charge sheet of 3,000 pages in the Mumbai court on Wednesday.

The Hyderabad Central Crime Station (CCS) officials arrested her for the first time in October last year and found that she did not have a doctorate, instead had only completed ninth standard. Meanwhile, a case was filed in Mumbai for allegedly cheating investors after promising high returns for their investments and the the next proceedings moved to Mumbai following which the EOW took charge of the case.

Nowhera Shaikh made her beginnings in 1990 along with a small group of women by selling gold for wedding ceremonies. She established the Heera Group in Hyderabad in 2008 and by 2014, 17 companies were associated with it.

Fourteen of these companies received deposits without any permission from any division, including RVI. In a bid to to promote investment, the company claimed that they took the gold mines in South Africa on lease which garnered a lot of attention. However, the gold was procured at a cheaper price from two traders in Mumbai. The EOW has identified 200 bank accounts with her in Mumbai. Of these, the transactions of 75 accounts were evaluated and only Rs. 17 crores is accounted for. The officials are investigating further as to how the remaining transactions took place.

The Mumbai police are trying to seize 6 properties worth Rs 40 crore from the firm. In regard to the case, Nowhera Shaikh, who is currently in custody of the CID officers of Andhra Pradesh will have to appear before the court in Mumbai. After the completion of the trial, she is likely to be brought back to the city based on the PT warrant. The Heera Group victims union president and MIM leader Shahbaz Ahmad Khan are demanding that the Nowhera Scam case be handed over to the central investigating agencies.

Also Read: Heera Gold Group MD Nowhera Shaikh Dupes Investors, Arrested In Chittoor