Gold ponzi fraud case: SC asks Heera Group chief to surrender within a week

THe sublime margaret court on midweek directed Nowhera Shaik, managing theatre director of Heera au Exim Private Limited, accused of duping thousands of investors in a gold ponzi scheme, to surrender within a week and cooperate with the Enforcement Directorate (ED).The federal agency had attached her assets and complained of non-cooperation in executing sale deeds.A bench of justices JB Pardiwala and KV Viswanathan directed Nowhera Shaik, MD of Heera Gold Exim Private Limited to surrender within a week, observing, “This is a case of large-scale fraud where thousands of investors have been duped of over ₹10,000 crore. We are left with no option but to direct her to surrender within one week failing which non-bailable warrants shall be executed.”The court had granted bail to Shaik in January 2021 and in October 2024 cancelled the bail. However, the order of cancellation was put on hold after she offered three properties for sale in order to return the invested amount to the affected investors.However, the ED informed the court that out of the three, only one property has been sold and the other properties were either found to be encumbered or in the name of her family members.Advocate Annam Venkatesh appearing for ED said, “We have identified 90 more properties for auction. The persons who are participating in the auction are getting confidence only from this court’s order. The petitioner (Shaik) has not been cooperating with execution of sale deeds relating to 16 properties.”Also Read: Torres CEO Tausif Riyaz held in Lonavala in multi-crore investor case“After bail was cancelled on October 18, 2024, having regard to subsequent developments, we extended her time to surrender. It appears that the petitioner is not cooperating and is not cooperating with ED on registration of sale deeds”, the bench concluded.Shaik told the court that the ED is auctioning properties at a throwaway price which cannot be accepted. She further informed the court that the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) tribunal is yet to approve the provisional attachment of properties.The bench clarified that ED is acting according to the court’s order and she has to cooperate with the execution of sale deeds.The order further directed that upon surrender, Shaik’s lawyer will inform the date when she is willing to execute the sale deeds. The court directed Shaik to be escorted from the jail to the sub-registrar office.“Once all 16 sale deeds are executed and all formalities are completed, the petitioner shall be at liberty to approach this court,” the bench said.Shaik had floated nearly 15 companies since the launch of the scheme in 2010. The Serious FraudsInvestigating Office (SFIO) began a probe as the Heera Gold Exim was incorporated under the Companies Act, 1956 dealing with jewellery and articles of gold. Complaints of cheating among other offences came to be filed against her by investors in multiple states. Besides seeking bail in these cases, Shaik sought clubbing of various first information reports (FIR) lodged against her in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Delhi.The scheme invited investments from investors promising a 36% dividend on the invested amount. There was a lock-in period of one year, and in some cases, two years. Initially, the company paid dividends but around 2018, complaints of cheating were filed by some of the investors against the company and Shaik.It was in one of these cases, she was arrested in October 2018.