Heera Group CEO Nowhera Shaik accused of scamming UAE expats arrested in India
Nowhera Shaik, who is in the spotlight for the wrong reasons as the founder of the Heera Group and accused of the Dh2.36 billion Heera Gold scam has been arrested in India.
This took place when the CCS police of Hyderabad executed three non-bailable warrants for fraud relating to cases from 2018. This was on a Tuesday evening.
Her arrest would help solve a problem that has left multiple people in the world, including in the UAE, financially distressed. According to various reports, UAE citizens have lost almost all their savings because of the fake schemes presented by Ex Heera.
As per reports, Shaik was apprehended while moving towards Surajkund region in Faridabad. She is currently held in Hyderabad and will appear in front of the judge in a local court.
Nowhera's arrest follows the October 2024 Supreme Court order cancelling her bail and directing her to surrender. After repeatedly failing to comply with the court's summon, she finally has had to face the consequences.
Nowhera’s leadership of The Heera Group has come under scrutiny as the group is accused of operating a Ponzi style scheme through Heera Gold, Heera Textiles, and Heera Foodex. They allegedly promised monthly returns of up to 36% and yearly payouts as high as 80%. This led to over 100,000 investors in South Asia and the Middle East panicking as payout was abruptly stopped in 2018.
Legal action was taken against Nowhera in 2018, with her being arrested and released on bail. Legal action has been taken across India including new cases from the Economic Offences Wing, as well as the Enforcement Directorate attaching 124 properties, 28 of which were done in recent months.
Whistleblower Shahbaz Ahmad Khan who is also president of the All India Heera Group Victims Association welcomed the decision and stated that Nowhera avoided court while citizen’s lives were ruined. “It’s high time she is held accountable,” he noted. He goes on to state that new complaints are actively coming from the UAE, some individuals experiencing such severe financial burdens that they lost their homes.
Shaik had claimed that she would deposit approximately Dh10.57 million from India’s Supreme court, but avoided fulfilling this requirement in order to sustain her bail.
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