ED attaches Nowhera Shaikh’s assets worth Rs 300 crore

Making promises of paying high rate of return of 3% every month or 36% annually, Nowhera and the Heera Group had collected around Rs 5,600 crore unauthorised deposits from around 1.72 lakh investors across the country.

Hyderabad: As part of an investigation into the Heera gold scam, properties worth Rs 300 crore of prime accused Nowhera Shaikh and Heera Group of companies have been attached by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday.

The central agency, which is investigating allegations of money laundering, attached 96 properties of Nowhera Shaikh in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Maharashtra and Delhi, including agricultural lands, commercial plots, residential buildings, commercial complexes and bank balances. The attached assets include immoveable properties of Rs 277 crore and movable assets of Rs 23 crore.

It must be noted that, making promises of paying high rate of return of 3% every month or 36% annually, Nowhera and the Heera Group had collected around Rs 5,600 crore unauthorised deposits from around 1.72 lakh investors across the country through its marketing executives and direct selling agents. Incorporating 24 firms under Heera Group, Nowhera had opened 182 bank accounts in several states across the country.

Several FIRs have been filed against Nowhera in other states besides Telangana, who had no permission either from Reserve Bank of India or any other government agency for these activities.