Insta
ED Awarded Custody Of Mahila Empowerment Party Chief Nowhera Shaikh For Running Ponzi Scheme
Swarajya Staff
May 17, 2019, 04:23 PM | Updated 04:23 PM IST
Save & read from anywhere!
Bookmark stories for easy access on any device or the Swarajya app.
A special court awarded the Enforcement Directorate (ED) seven-day custody of trio in Hyderabad in connection to the alleged multi-crore Ponzi scheme and Investment fraud scheme which was responsible for the duping many people in Telangana, the Business Standard reports.
Nowhera Shaikh, Molly Thomas and Biju Thomas, were arrested under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The trio was already in jail for three weeks when the ED approached the court for a permit to put them under their custody.
Nowhera Shaikh is the founder of the All India Mahila Empowerment Party (AIMEP) and the Heera group of companies which is closely linked in the Ponzi scheme. Molly Thomas had worked as the personal assistant to Shaikh.
Biju Thomas is the Managing Director of Suvan Technologies Solutions, which developed software for the Heera group and maintained all the account details of the scheme. The group companies had collected around Rs 3,000 crore from 1,72,11 investors, the agency said.
“Heera group is accused of fraudulently collecting investments from lakhs of innocent victims on the promise of providing very high returns of about 36 per cent by indulging in gold trading among others,” ED said.
It is also believed that there were several FIRs against Shaikh and the others by victims of this horrendous scheme from across Hyderabad, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and other states as well as various NRI’s in UAE, Saudi Arabia and other Middle East countries.
Save & read from anywhere!
Bookmark stories for easy access on any device or the Swarajya app.
Introducing ElectionsHQ + 50 Ground Reports Project
The 2024 elections might seem easy to guess, but there are some important questions that shouldn't be missed.
Do freebies still sway voters? Do people prioritise infrastructure when voting? How will Punjab vote?
The answers to these questions provide great insights into where we, as a country, are headed in the years to come.
Swarajya is starting a project with an aim to do 50 solid ground stories and a smart commentary service on WhatsApp, a one-of-a-kind. We'd love your support during this election season.
Click below to contribute.