The Enforcement Directorate arrested Heera Gold founder Nowhera Shaik from Gurugram, Haryana, in connection with an alleged fraud exceeding Rs 10,000 crore involving more than 1.72 lakh investors. The arrest occurred Thursday in a joint operation with Haryana Police.
Shaik was living under a fake identity using forged documents, according to the ED. She was produced before a special PMLA court in Hyderabad on Friday. The agency said she had been absconding since the Supreme Court cancelled her bail on April 8 and ordered her to surrender within a week.
Investigators allege Shaik and associates collected over Rs 5,978 crore from the public promising annual returns above 36 percent through Heera Group companies including Heera Gold. The ED said the group had no genuine business operations and diverted funds to acquire personal properties. More than Rs 3,000 crore in principal remains unreturned.
The agency has attached assets worth Rs 428 crore and auctioned properties fetching about Rs 122 crore for victim restitution. A special court issued a non-bailable warrant on May 7 after Shaik failed to appear. FIRs were registered by police in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh triggering the money laundering investigation.
Shaik was apprehended from an Airbnb property in Gurugram’s Sector 45 along with an associate, Sameer Khan, according to the ED. The Supreme Court had directed her to execute sale deeds of 16 auctioned properties within two months to fund restitution for victims of the alleged Ponzi scheme.
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