India News | ED Initiates Assets Return Process to Duped Investors of Heera Group Ponzi 'scam'
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday said it has initiated the process to restore funds to a clutch of genuine investors who were allegedly duped in a multi-crore Ponzi scam perpetrated by the Heera Group of companies in Telangana.
New Delhi, Nov 13 (PTI) The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday said it has initiated the process to restore funds to a clutch of genuine investors who were allegedly duped in a multi-crore Ponzi scam perpetrated by the Heera Group of companies in Telangana.
The Supreme Court issued an order on Monday allowing the federal agency to auction two immovable assets of the main promoter and "prime accused" in the case, Nowhera Shaik, and "settle" the claims of investors, it said in a statement.
The ED, over the last few months, has been undertaking the 'restitution of assets' or return of properties action for the persons, who were duped by fraud schemes, under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). It has undertaken this measure in a few cases including in the Saradha Ponzi case of West Bengal.
The order of the apex court came on a writ petition of Shaik where she had listed three properties owned by her that can be auctioned to settle the dues after the ED told the SC that "substantive" justice would be met to investors who were duped in the "fraudulent" investment schemes of Shaik and Heera Group of companies.
The agency has been probing the accused since 2019 on charges of cheating gullible people and collecting thousands of crores of rupees from them on the false promise of "abnormally high" returns of around 36 per cent per annum.
It had attached assets worth Rs 400 crore in this case, including the two properties directed by the SC for auction, and this provisional attachment order was confirmed by the Adjudicating Authority of the PMLA in the past. Shaik was also arrested by the ED among some other accused.
"A large part of the funds collected from investors was diverted to amass huge immovable and movable properties in the names of Shaik, her relatives, associates and Heera Group of companies," the ED alleged.
The agency said that during the hearing of the writ petition in the SC, it prayed for permission to auction the attached properties for the purpose of restoration to investors.
The ED conducted verification exercises of the said three properties on the directions of the SC and made a detailed submission of the investigation carried out against the accused.
It also informed the court about the latest searches conducted by it in August at the premises linked to Shaik and her associates to demonstrate "fraudulent" collection of deposits and their utilisation to purchase moveable and immovable properties.
"Considering submissions of ED, the Hon'ble Supreme Court has permitted the auction of two properties of Shaik attached by the ED to settle investors' claims.
"Further, on the prayer of ED, the Court also directed Shaik to furnish details of the other properties owned by her that are free from all encumbrances within a period of two weeks following which ED shall proceed to put those properties to auction and try to recover the maximum amount for distribution amongst the investors," the agency said.
The SC, in the same order, also directed Shaik to deposit Rs 25 crore with the ED within a period of three months, the agency said.
"This marks a significant step in ED's ongoing efforts to restore properties to their rightful claimants and to ensure that the proceeds of crime are returned to those affected. ED continues to uphold its commitment to combating financial crimes and ensuring justice for victims of such crimes," it said.
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)