ED Arrests Heera Group Founder Nowhera Shaik In Hyderabad Ponzi Case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested Nowhera Shaik, prime accused in the Heera Group linked alleged investment fraud case of Hyderabad, from Gurugram on Thursday (May 21), officials informed.Shaik was arrested in a joint operation conducted by the ED and the Haryana Police. The officials said she was living in the city under a "fake identity using forged documents".Following her arrest, she was taken to Hyderabad the next day and was produced before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court.ED identified various properties purchased from the proceeds of crime and attached the same under the provisions of PMLA, 2002.They said Shaik was "evading" investigation in the case since her bail was cancelled by the Supreme Court

recently. A special PMLA court in Hyderabad issued a non-bailable warrant against her on May 7 but she was not traceable at her Hyderabad address. "An intelligence input indicated she was in Gurugram," the officials informed.During the ED investigation, it was found that Shaik collected money from investors across India on the pretext of investment in Heera Group of Companies by offering huge returns of around 36 percent per annum, and thereafter failed to return their profits or principal amounts. ED completes registration of Rs 19.64 crore Heera Group property sold at auction.The ED had attached assets worth Rs 428 crore in this case and had obtained a green signal from the Supreme Court to auction these properties so that funds obtained from them can be restituted (restored) to the victims, a provision available under the PMLA.Some of the properties were successfully auctioned fetching about Rs 122 crore, as per the ED. However, Shaik failed to cooperate in the execution of sale deeds in favour of successful bidders and made repeated attempts to obstruct the auction proceedings, it alleged.