Nowhera Shaik, the key figure in the Heera Group investment fraud case involving thousands of investors and crores of rupees, has been arrested in Gurugram, marking a significant development in the ongoing investigation.
The Enforcement Directorate has arrested Nowhera Shaik, prime accused in the Heera Group linked alleged investment fraud case of Hyderabad, from Gurugram, officials said on Friday.
Shaik was arrested on Thursday in a joint operation conducted by the ED and the Haryana Police. The officials said she was living in the city under a "fake identity using forged documents."
The woman was taken to Hyderabad on Friday and produced before a special PMLA court.
They said Shaik was "evading" investigation in the case since her bail was cancelled by the Supreme Court recently.
A special PMLA court in Hyderabad issued a non-bailable warrant against her on May 7 but she was not traceable at her Hyderabad address. An intelligence input indicated she was in Gurugram, the officials said.
Shaik, the Heera Group of Companies and others are alleged to have collected more than Rs 5,978 crore from the public with a promise of returns of more than 36 per cent per annum. They, however, failed to return even the principal amount thereby duping more than 1.72 lakh gullible investors to the tune of Rs 3,000 crore, the ED has said.
The ED had attached assets worth Rs 428 crore in this case and had obtained a green signal from the Supreme Court to auction these properties so that funds obtained from them can be restituted (restored) to the victims, a provision available under the PMLA.
Some of the properties were successfully auctioned fetching about Rs 122 crore, as per the ED.
However, Shaik failed to cooperate in the execution of sale deeds in favour of successful bidders and made repeated attempts to obstruct the auction proceedings, it alleged.