Ponzi scam: ED attaches Heera Gold boss Nowhera Sheikh's properties worth Rs 299-cr

News Network
August 17, 2019

Aug 17: The Enforcement Directorate on Friday said it has attached properties to the tune of Rs 299 crore of Nowhera Sheikh of Heera Group including 96 immovable properties spread across several states in its probe into the ponzi scam.

An ED official said in New Delhi that the agency has attached properties to the tune of Rs 299.99 crore under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The official said that it has attached properties of Sheikh consisting of 96 immovable properties located in Telangana, Kerala, Maharashtra, Delhi and Andhra Pradesh worth Rs 277.29 crore in the form of agricultural lands, commercial plots, residential buildings, commercial complexes and balances in bank accounts worth Rs 22.69 crore.

The ED has filed a case of money laundering on the basis of FIRs registered by Central Crime Station, Hyderabad, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh Police against Sheikh of Heera Group of Companies and others on the allegation of illegally collecting deposits from lakhs of investors under the guise of high returns.

The official said there are multiple FIRs registered across the country against Heera Group of Companies. He said during probe it was found that Sheikh incorporated multiple companies under Heera Group of Companies and collected an amount of approximately Rs 5,600 crore as unauthorized deposits from around 1,72,000 investors (IBG Members) across the country by engaging a network of marketing executives and direct selling agents with a false promise of paying high rate of returns i.e. 3 percent per month (36 percent per annum).

"She floated multiple schemes and extensively advertised the schemes to lure the victims. For this purpose, Sheikh started 24 firms or entities under Heera Group and 182 bank accounts were opened in different banks at different parts of the countries in the name of these 24 entities," the official said.

Further 10 bank accounts were also opened in foreign countries such as UAE, Saudi Arabia etc. For collecting these deposits, Sheikh does not possess any valid permission either under Banking Regulation Act, Companies Act, RBI Act or from any other government agency such as SEBI for collecting deposits.

He said Sheikh started gold, food and textile trading businesses only to create the impression that she was earning legitimate profits, but in reality, the payouts to the new members were simply being funded from the cash flows generated from new members/investments.

"The volume of business in her gold, textile and food marts was miniscule and not sufficient to justify the high returns promised by her," he said. The official pointed out that during the probe it was also found that Sheikh along with her family members and close associates diverted the depositors' money to their personal accounts and amassed huge movable and immovable assets for wrongful personal gain.

"The diverted funds were further layered into various shell companies and in the form of 'benami' assets so as to ultimately cheat lakhs of innocent victims and to launder these crime proceeds for personal benefit," he said.

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News Network
February 26,2020

Mysuru, Feb 26: Twenty-nine students of the Government Primary School fell sick after consuming milk supplied at the school on Wednesday morning at Kiranguru village, in Hanagodu hobli, in the hunsur taluk in the district.

Police said the students were immediately rushed to the primary health centre in Hanagodu and provided first aid.

Tahsildar and Police personnel visited the health centre and inquired about the health of the students. "All the students are responding to the treatment," sources said.

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News Network
February 28,2020

Bengaluru, Feb 28: Historian S. Shettar, 85, breathed his last early on February 28 in Bengaluru. He was suffering from respiratory problems and was hospitalised for over a week.

Shettar was known for his multi-disciplinary work, encompassing linguistics, epigraphy, anthropology, the study of religions and art history. He had extensively worked on the Jain practice of ritual death in Karnataka and Asoka edicts. He had studied and compiled early edicts in Kannada and worked extensively on the growth of Kannada language down the ages.

Born in 1935 at Hampasagara, Ballari district, he went on to study at Cambridge University and started his career as a Professor of History at Karnatak University, Dharwad, his alma mater. He later headed the National Museum Institute of the History of Art, Conservation and Museology in 1978 and Indian Council for Historical Research in 1996. He was also a visiting professor at the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bengaluru.

He was a bilingual historian who wrote in English for most of his career, but started writing in Kannada in later years. In the last two decades, he developed a keen interest in linguistics and wrote multiple books on classical Kannada and Prakrit. His 2007 book “Shangam Tamilagam” is considered a seminal work in the study of the early period of Dravidian languages. It won him Bhasha Samman from Central Sahitya Akademi. He later wrote two works on Halegannada, classical Kannada. His most recent work was “Prakrita Jagadvalaya” in 2018.

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News Network
April 26,2020

Dubai, Apr 26: Families were shattered as the three dead bodies of UAE-based Indian expats were returned to the country from New Delhi, India.

Family members waited outside the Indira Gandhi International Airport for hours, but they were later told to go back home as the remains of expats Jagsir Singh, Sanjeev Kumar and Kamlesh Bhatt were flown back to Abu Dhabi, following a new order implemented by India's Ministry of Home Affairs.

Inderjeet, brother-in-law of Sanjeev based in Al Ain, said their family in Punjab was devastated.

"This is a non-coronavirus death. We had a death certificate as proof and all necessary documents from Indian Embassy. But the body was returned while our family members waited outside the airport. This is very shocking," Inderjeet said.

"The body shouldn't have been returned. It's difficult to travel across states due to Covid-19 restrictions and also to arrange the ambulance," he added.

"Now the embassy has told me to come on Sunday. They said hopefully things will be sorted out in a day or two."

Meanwhile, the family of Kamlesh resides in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. This means, with existing travel restrictions, they had to secure permits from different states to reach New Delhi.

Dubai-based social worker Girish Pant, who is in touch with the family, said they are all depressed with the unfortunate turn of events.

"His brother Vimlesh had to return home without the remains. They are all clueless and in pain. With the new order from the Ministry of Home Affairs, I have informed the family that the body will reach them within 48 hours. I am also coordinating with the Indian Embassy," Pant said.

Comments

Ahmed A.K.
 - 
Monday, 27 Apr 2020

Now support BJP

 

Indian origins dont have place to cremate in their own land while our HM is planning to give nationality to minorities of other countries.

 

what a joke man!!!

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