The special court for economic offences in Hyderabad has convicted Heera Foodex Pvt Ltd and its director Dr Aalima Nowhera Shaik, founder of the Heera group, in a case filed by the registrar of companies (RoC) for failing to submit statutory financial documents.
In its order on 23 September 2025, the court held Heera Foodex Pvt Ltd and Dr Shaik guilty under Section 99 of the Companies Act, 2013. The company has been fined Rs20,000, while Dr Shaik has been fined another Rs20,000. In default of payment, Dr Shaik must undergo three months of simple imprisonment.
The court further ruled that since the offence was a continuing one, both, the company and its director, are liable to pay an additional penalty of Rs500 per day from 1 October 2017 to 1 October 2018, amounting to Rs182,500 each, or Rs365,000 in total. By default, Dr Shaik will face another three months of imprisonment.
The judge noted that Dr Shaik is entitled to a set-off for the 91 days she spent in judicial custody between October 2019 and January 2020 and explained to her the right to seek legal aid and appeal under the Legal Services Authority Act.
The case dates back to 2019, when the RoC filed a prosecution against Heera Foodex, Dr Shaik and director Mubarak Jan Shaik for not filing balance sheets since 2016, in violation of Section 92 of the Companies Act.
Dr Shaik, already facing multiple cases for allegedly duping thousands of investors through Ponzi-like deposit schemes run under the Heera group banner, was earlier arrested along with aides Molly Thomas and Biju Thomas by the central crime station (CCS) police.
The conviction in the RoC case marks yet another legal setback for the controversial Heera group founder, whose financial dealings and corporate compliance record have been under the scanner for years.
In March this year, while coming down heavily on Dr Shaik, the Supreme Court (SC) asked the Heera group's managing director (MD) to either return Rs25 crore to investors within two months or face imprisonment in the fraud and cheating case as the apex court will cancel her bail.
In an order, the bench of justice JB Pardiwala and justice R Mahadevan says, "We propose a last opportunity to the accused. An amount of Rs25 crore shall be deposited by her within a period of two months, failing which her bail shall stand cancelled and she should be sent back to jail by the directorate of enforcement (ED). We direct the accused not to engage in further advertisement. If this court finds that she indulged in advertisement, she will be sent back to jail." (
Read: Heera Gold: Nowhera Shaik Directed to Return Rs25 Crore to Investors or Go To Jail)
Following an order from the Supreme Court,
the Hyderabad zonal office of the ED initiated the process of restitution of the two properties. According to a report filed by ED, Naina Towers, located in the Banjara Hills area of Hyderabad, had 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 had a fair market value of about Rs120.64 crore and realisable value of around Rs109.58 crore, ED says.
In January 2025, ED attached 27 immovable properties with a market value of about Rs103.4 crore and a book value of Rs17.14 crore under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) provisions in the Heera Gold scam.
ED has been investigating a money laundering case against the Heera group of companies and Dr 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 Dr 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 Dr 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.
You may also want to read...
