The Hyderabad zonal office of the directorate of enforcement (ED) has provisionally attached 27 immovable properties having a market value of about Rs103.4 crore and a book value of Rs17.14 crore under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), in a Ponzi scheme case related to Dr Aalima Nowhera Shaik and Heera group of companies. Dr Shaik is the managing director (MD) of Heera group of companies, which is under probe by law enforcement agencies for collecting money as deposits from thousands of Muslim people from several states.
ED has been investigating a money laundering case against Heera group of companies and Ms Shaik for cheating gullible people and collecting thousands of crores of rupees from them on the false promise of abnormally high returns of around 36% per annum.
The agency investigation revealed that Ms Shaik and her Heera group of companies utilised part of the proceeds of crime (POC) towards purchasing various immovable properties in her own name, in the names of her family members and associates and in the name of her companies.
ED had earlier provisionally attached properties worth Rs400 crore acquired out of POC by Ms Shaik, Heera group of companies and others. She was earlier arrested by ED in this case. The agency says a prosecution complaint (PC) and supplementary prosecution complaint have also been filed before the special court (PMLA) in Hyderabad.
ED is also pursuing the process of restitution of properties to the genuine investors of Heera group of companies, following directions of the Supreme Court vide order dated 11 November 2024 in WP (Cr) 31 of 2020.
In a post on X, the agency says, "This is following persistent plea taken by the ED before the Supreme Court for ensuring that substantive justice is met to investors who were duped in the fraudulent investment schemes of Nowhera Shaik and Heera group of companies."
According to a report filed by the ED, Naina Towers, located in Banjara Hills area of Hyderabad, has a fair market value of about Rs90.1 crore and a realisable value of Rs81.08 crore. Heera Foodex from Hydershahkot village in Ranga Reddy district has a fair market value of about Rs120.64 crore and realisable value of around Rs109.58 crore, ED says.
The Supreme Court also directed Ms Shaik to deposit Rs25 crore within three months with ED and furnish within two weeks full, correct and complete details of the other properties she owned, free from all encumbrances. The Heera group MD is also asked to surrender her two passports.
"Once the information as regards other properties free from all encumbrances is furnished to the ED, it shall proceed further at the earliest to put those properties also to auction and try to recover the maximum amount so that ultimately whatever amount is fetched can be distributed amongst the investors," the SC says.
In August this year, ED searched and seized Rs90 lakh in cash and 12 high-end cars and property documents worth Rs70 crore belonging to the Heera group of companies, Ms Shaik, her relatives and associates.
"Searches also revealed that investment of proceeds of crime in movable and immovable properties acquired by Ms Shaik in the UAE. Further, details of new investment schemes and projects launched by Ms Shaik in collusion with other co-conspirators to defraud investors and divert previously acquired proceeds of crime were unearthed during the search operations," ED says.
Earlier, ED had provisionally attached properties worth about Rs400 crore which had been acquired from the POC by Ms Shaik, Heera group of companies, and others. "Ms Shaik was earlier arrested by ED in this case and a prosecution complaint has also been filed before the special court (PMLA) at Hyderabad," it added.
Replying to an email sent by Moneylife with videos of panicky investors, the market regulator's Hyderabad office wrote to say, "Upon examination into the matter, it was found that the activities of Heera Group are in the nature of Ponzi Scheme. Further, the nature of activities of Heera Group was also discussed in the meetings of State Level Co-ordination Committees (SLCC) of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, which are headed by Chief Secretaries of the respective states. It was decided in the meetings of SLCC that the activities of Heera Group appear to be beyond the regulatory ambit of SEBI and RBI and the case would be taken up for investigation by relevant authorities such as CID-EOW, and Serious Frauds Office of India (SFIO). Accordingly, SEBI had already referred the case to CID-EOW, Enforcement Directorate, Commissioner of Police-Hyderabad."
