The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered Nohera Shaik, managing director of Heera Gold 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 seized its assets and complained of a lack of cooperation in executing the sales bonds.
A bench of Justices JP Pardiwala and KV Viswanathan directed Nowhira Shaik, managing director of Heera Gold Exim Private Limited, to surrender within a week, observing that “this is a large-scale fraud case where thousands of investors have been duped of over $10,000 Crores. We are left with no choice but to direct her to surrender within one week, otherwise non-bailable search warrants will be executed.
The court had granted bail to Sheikh in January 2021, and in October 2024, it canceled the bail. However, the cancellation order was suspended after three properties were put up for sale in order to return the invested amount to the affected investors.
However, the CEO informed the court that out of the three, only one property was sold and the others were found to be either mortgaged or in the name of her family members.
Advocate Anam Venkatesh representing the ED said, “We have identified 90 more properties for auction. People who participate in the auction get confidence only from the order of this court. The petitioner (Shaik) did not cooperate in executing the sale deeds relating to 16 properties.”
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“After canceling the bail on October 18, 2024, taking into account subsequent developments, we extended the time for surrender. The bench concluded that the petitioner is neither cooperating nor cooperating with the ED in registering the sale deeds,” the bench said.
Sheikh told the court that the Executive Directorate is selling properties at public auction at a low price that cannot be accepted. The court also informed that the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court is yet to approve the interim attachment of the property.
The court explained that ED is acting in accordance with the court order and must cooperate in executing the sales deeds.
The order also stipulates that upon delivery, Sheikh’s lawyer will inform the date on which she wishes to execute the sale deeds. The court ordered Sheikh to be escorted from prison to the sub-registrar’s office.
“Once all 16 sale deeds are executed and all formalities are completed, the petitioner will be free to approach this court,” the bench said.
Sheikh had floated nearly 15 companies since launching the scheme in 2010.
The SFIO has initiated a probe as Heera Gold Exim was incorporated under the Companies Act, 1956 dealing with jewelery and gold articles. Complaints of fraud among other crimes have been filed against it by investors in multiple states. Besides seeking bail in these cases, Shaikh has sought several First Information Reports (FIR) against her in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Delhi.
The scheme invited investments from investors and promised them a dividend of 36% on the amount invested. The period of imprisonment was one year, and in some cases two years. Initially, the company paid dividends but around 2018, complaints of cheating were filed by some investors against the company and Sheikh.
In one of these cases, she was arrested in October 2018.
