UAE: Scammed expats hope for 'closure' as Heera Group properties set for auction on January 23
Residents of UAE who had previously staked in Heera Group schemes are encouraged as the group’s managing director Nowhera Shaikh’s two properties are due to be auctioned off on 23 January. The auction — conducted by India’s Supreme Court — is meant to bring funds back to scam investors.
The land includes a 1,333sqm Built Up Area on the 5th and 6th Floor of Naina Towers in Banjara Hills, Hyderabad and a Commercial Land of 3,114sqm in Hydershahkote Village, Telangana. Hyderabad: The ED has declared the auction "as-is-where-is" with MSTC Ltd, a central public sector company of India’s Ministry of Steel.
ED said total recovery target was Rs1.9 billion (Dh81 million) plus legal fees as of 11th November 2024. All plots have a reserve of Rs 450 million (Dh19.15 million), earnest money downpayment of Rs 25 million (Dh1.06 million) per lot.
The Heera Group was selling high yield investment products with very high returns. Heera Gold, for instance, paid out Dh3,250 per month on an investment of Dh100,000 and with a one-year lock-in. Other plans such as Heera Textiles and Heera Foodex assured 65 to 80 per cent annual return on deposit of Dh15,000 minimum and lock-in terms of two years. Inspiring investors with these lucrative propositions even borrowed money to join.
But then in 2018, the returns stopped, and the band broke apart. Shaikh was arrested, and hundreds of UAE investors were left with nothing but losses. Visiting Heera offices at Jumeirah Lake Towers and warehouses in Ras Al Khaimah and Sharjah fell on deaf ears.
Investors in the UAE were mixed about what has happened. "For the first time in 6 years, I’m getting a little hope," MK from Dubai, who contributed Dh90,000 towards one of the group’s projects, told us.
Shahbaz Ahmad Khan, president of the All India Heera Group Victims Association, applauded the auction but criticised the narrow range of compensation. "This is a start, but not for many victims," he said.
Khan also insisted on reporting the fraud to the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO). "Such investors should get to the market fast and get their claims filed with SFIO. They won’t be able to recover the money,’ he said. "Have your bank statements, proof of identity, receipts of payment or units bought from Heera Group notarised and send to the SFIO’s Telangana branch through post," he added.
Yet, while SFIO’s call for claims closed in 2022, only 6,788 claims totalling Dh159 million were submitted — a mere fraction of the Dh2.5 billion that would have been put forward by more than 175,000 people.
The houses will be available to inspect from Jan. 16 to Jan. 18 between 10am and 5pm. Auction details and contact details for interested parties have been posted at the ED and MSTC.
Shahid Khan, a UAE school bus driver who lost Dh75,000 to the scam, called from Kolkata, where he now lives,. ‘It was all the money I had stashed away for years on my modest wage,’ he said. "I have six children, three girls and they’re all single. Life has never been easy since this catastrophe".
He told me that he hears about the auction and process from a victims-only WhatsApp group. ‘We’ve been hanging on to whatever little hope we have but these years have been hell for families like mine. ‘I have had to borrow money to get even by,’ he said.
The auction is a small chance of redemption for Shahid and many others. ‘I hope that brings closure, not just for me, but for all the people that lost," he said.
Comments