Heera Gold case: Lawyer of complainant assaulted

Mateen.Hafeez@timesgroup.com
 

Mumbai: Shan Elahi Turky, advocate for the complainant, Shaan e Illahi, in the Rs 500-crore Heera Gold cheating case, was allegedly assaulted outside the City Civil and Sessions court near Kala Ghoda on Monday afternoon. The advocate, who was bleeding from the head, was taken to a hospital and later to the police station. 

“I had come to file an intervention application in the sessions court when a group of people, mainly agents in the Heera Gold case and some investors standing nearby, assaulted me. They banged my head against the wall and started yelling the accused, Nowhera Shaikh, was behind bars because of me,” Turky told TOI. Colaba police recorded Turky’s statement. The FIR filed by Turky has charged nearly a dozen people.

Shaikh has been charged with cheating thousands of investors in a Ponzi scheme. Complaints have been lodged at Thane, and in Hyderabad and Aurangabad. Meanwhile, the city economic offences wing has got 30 more applications from investors stating they have not got their money back. “We have identified around half a dozen accounts belonging to the Heera Group. We have sought transaction details of these accounts,” said an officer. Mumbai-based agent, Saleem Ansari, named in the FIR, is yet to be arrested.

The Times of India, October 30, 2018

Heera group MD brought to Mumbai, held for Rs 500 crore fraud

Mateen Hafeez TNN 

MUMBAI: The city economic offences wing (EOW) on Friday brought Heera Group of Companies managing director Nowhera Shaikh to the city and arrested her in a Rs 500 crore investment fraud case. She was produced before a special court and remanded to police custody till November 3. Over two lakh invested in schemes run by the Rs 1,000-crore group. Around 10,000 investors are from Mumbai.

EOW registered an FIR on October 23, after a Bhendi Bazaar resident, Shane Ilahi Shaikh, complained that he had invested Rs 6 lakh in Heera Gold and it defaulted on payments. Shane told police he was promised monthly returns of 2.8-3.2% on his investment. He got returns for a few months but they stopped since June.

Police searched the company's Bhendi Bazaar and Mira Road offices and named an agent, Saleem Ansari, in the FIR as an accused. Agents would mainly target Muslim, claiming the scheme gave a monthly profit, and not interest, which is not allowed in Islam. Those named in the FIR include Nowhera, director of Heera group of companies, Heera Gold Exim Ltd, Heera Retail Pvt Ltd, Heera Textile Ltd, Heera Foodex Pvt Ltd, and several agents for inducing investment.

A police officer said, "We sought her custody to find out where she has invested the customers' money. We need to find out offices of her business projects and where are her business outlets and factories. She claimed dealings in gold trading. We have to verify the information. The profits she would give, of around 36% a year, are too high for any business. We want to find out which business gave her so much profit for several years." Besides the Hyderabad case against the group and Shaikh, two cases are registered in Bhiwandi and Aurangabad.

Vineet Dhanda, Nowhera's lawyer, said she was a victim of political vendetta. "Complaints are being filed since she announced her entry into politics. Mumbai Police on Friday took her custody from Hyderabad jail soon after she signed the release papers." Dhanda said Nowhera had deposited Rs 5 crore with the special magistrate court in Hyderabad, as instructed, and plans to return investors their money soon. "She planned to start payments from November-December. We have two lakh customers. The serious fraud investigation office (SFIO) has been probing her for seven months and has not found any irregularity. If the MD is behind bars, how will she return the money? Our intention is clear and we will return money to our old customers first. Some customers are not even giving her breathing time. She has been giving profits to customers for 15 years. We are moving court on Monday for bail," said Dhande.

The Times of India, October 27, 2018

After Hyd & Thane, floodgate of Ponzi scheme complaints opens in Mumbai

Mateen.Hafeez@timesgroup.com

 
Mumbai: For three years, there were murmurs about an investment scheme, run from Hyderabad, being on the verge of running aground. The police were well aware about several people having invested in the Ponzi scheme but with no complaint, they could do nothing. Finally on Tuesday, the city police registered an FIR against Nowhera Shaikh, director of Heera Group of Companies, for cheating 10,000 investors of Rs 500 crore after a businessman, Shane Ilahi Shaikh, lodged a complaint at the JJ Marg police station. Another FIR was registered against Shaikh in Aurangabad on Tuesday.

The police said at least 2 lakh investors from across the country have put money in the company’s schemes and the scam amount may actually be Rs 1,000 crore. “In Mumbai, investors have been discussing in private about the possible collapse of the schemes but none of them came forward,” said a police officer.

Vinay Kumar Choubay, joint commissioner (EOW), said “We have registered a case.” The Mumbai police will seek Shaikh’s custody from Hyderabad police who arrested her last week in another cheating case for similar Ponzi schemes.

Shane Ilahi Shaikh told TOI, “I invested Rs 3 lakh in July 2017 and was promised a monthly return of 2.8-3.2%. As I got returns for a couple of months, I decided to invest more so that I could buy a house. I stay in a rented room right now. I sold my property and invested another Rs 3 lakh. But the firm stopped paying profit since June. I made rounds of their office but could not get the profit or principal amount.” “The agents would mostly target Muslim investors by saying the scheme offered monthly profit and not interest, which is not allowed in Islam,” said a source.

TOI had reported about a group of investors approaching the EOW to register a case against this group on October 20. Advocate Shan Ilahi Turky, who helped the victims lodge complaints, said, “We have been coordinating with the police for last two months and have provided all documents. We are hopeful of justice.”

The Times  of India,  October 24,   2018

Mumbaikars hit by Hyderabad Ponzi scheme

Mateen  Hafeez
MUMBAI: A group of investors from the city, who had collectively invested crores of rupees in the Heera Group of companies, approached the city economic offences wing (EOW), with a complaint they had been conned. An inquiry has been initiated into the matter.
The investors met DCP Parag Manere who handed over their application to the EOW's intelligence unit.

Hyderabad police arrested Nowhera Shaikh, managing director of Heera Group of companies and founder of All-India Mahila Empowerment Party, on Tuesday after a cheating case was registered.

The Heera Group ran 15 different companies. Most investors are Muslims as the company claimed it was conducting business based on Islamic Sharia rules.

Social activist Adil Khatri approached Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai police and the enforcement directorate and ministry of corporate affairs seeking a wider probe. "Investors had put in money in the Heera Group so that they could plan a Haj or a daughter's wedding with the high returns promised. However, they have been left high and dry," said Khatri.


The Times of India, October 20, 2018

Maha will free 102 prisoners to mark Gandhi Jayanti

Mateen.Hafeez@timesgroup.com 
 

Mumbai: Maharashtra prison department has identified 102 convicts who will be released under the Centre’s amnesty on the occasion of Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary coming up in 2019. The convicts will be released on October 5 from different jails in the state. 

Those who will be freed are men above 60 years and women above 55 who have served two-third of their sentence.

The declaration came Tuesday at Arthur Road jail where a special programme was organised by Bombay Sarvodaya Mandal to mark Gandhi Jayanti.

Sarvodaya Mandal head TRK Somaiya said, “Premshankar Tiwari and Kamlesh Gandhi, volunteers of Sarvodaya Mandal, introduced inmates to Gandhi’s thoughts. Jail superintendent, Harshad Ahirrao, encouraged prisoners to follow the path of truth and non-violence. Gandhiji’s autobiography was given to the three inmates from Arthur Road jail who will be freed this week. The prisoners promised to read the book and follow Gandhi’s ideologies to start a new life.”

The state government had set up a four-member committee to examine cases of eligible prisoners and make recommendations. Initially, it was decided the prisoners will be released on October 2 (Tuesday), the 149th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

Rajvardhan Sinha, inspector general of police (Prisons), told TOI, “We have identified 102 prisoners and they will be released on October 5. At Tuesday’s function, the convicts were gifted books on Gandhian thought.”

Last year, the union cabinet decided to release convicts serving time for non-heinous crimes in three phases. Those eligible include senior citizens, women, physically challenged and terminally ill inmates who have completed two-third of their sentence. Maximum prisoners identified for release are from Taloja jail. “Thirty seven prisoners will be released from Taloja jail, five from Mumbai’s Arthur Road and two from Thane,” said a jail source.

The special remission has not been given to prisoners convicted for an offence for which the sentence is death or has been commuted to life imprisonment, those involved in serious crimes like rape, dowry death, human trafficking or those convicted under POTA, UAPA and TADA.

(Inputs from Bella Jaisinghani)

The Times of India, October 3, 2018 

Noida youth buys applicant’s details from job portal staffer and dupes her

Mateen.Hafeez@timesgroup.com
 

Mumbai: The Cuffe Parade police have arrested a 29-year-old man who holds a masters degree in computer applications for running a fake call center from Noida and cheating a Mumbai woman who was looking for a job. The accused, along with his gang, duped the woman by promising her a job and making her repeatedly deposit money in various bank accounts. The accused told the police he had bought the woman’s contact information from the employee of a global employment website.

The mastermind, Noida resident Jaideep Shastri, was brought to Mumbai from Delhi on Saturday and arrested. “The complainant, a 25-year-old woman, who is an MCom, was looking for a job. Within days of her registering on a reputed online employment website, she received emails and calls stating she was among 15 people selected for a nationalised bank,” said a source. The complainant told the police a woman, who identified herself as Devrishi Sharma, called her in June 2017 and told her she had been selected. Sharma asked her she needed to deposit a “fee” to proceed with the job offer.

Sharma instructed the victim on several occasions to deposit money in bank accounts, including hers (Sharma’s). After depositing Rs 1.21 lakh, the victim realised she had been duped and approached the Cuffe Parade police and lodged an FIR. The police began probing the case and traced Sharma with the bank account details and mobile number submitted by the victim. She was brought from Delhi in August and arrested.

“During her interrogation, the police learnt about the involvement of others. A man, Vikrant Giri, whose bank account was used in the crime, too was arrested. During investigations, Shastri’s name emerged as the mastermind of the scam,” said a source.

The police despatched a team to Noida and nabbed Shastri. “During interrogation, he said that the employee of a global employment website had sold him the contact details of several people. We are now trying to arrest this person,” said a senior officer.

The Times  of India, October 3, 2018

Man arrested for sending ‘vulgar’ mails to police

Mateen.Hafeez@timesgroup.com

 

Mumbai: A 33-year-old Kalachowkie resident who sent over 200 emails to police demanding action against a woman constable for allegedly verbally abusing him two years ago, has been booked for outraging the modesty of woman as his latest mails contained vulgar words. 

Sachin Chefalkar, who lives opposite Kalachowkie police station, had first sent an email to the police station in 2016 alleging that a woman constable had abused him when he was standing in his fourth floor home balcony. According to sources, when a police team went to meet him, he, however, did not give them further details and instead asked them to refer his email.

He subsequently started sending emails to the police station, the deputy commissioner, the additional commissioner’s office and the city police commissioner. “He would forward the same email with some fresh addition,” said a police source.

Meanwhile, he allegedly abused a policeman some time ago and a non-cognisable complaint was lodged at Kalachowkie police station. The investigators approached the court seeking permission to investigate the complaint. “When we went to his house, he did even not allow his father to speak to us. He just told us that we should go back and check his complaint and take action,” added an officer. A police source said they were fed up with his frequent mails.

Sources said Chefalkar recently sent a few derogatory emails to the police. “Women constables who check emails as Routine Writers’ work, opened his email and were shocked to see the vulgar language used in it. Chefalkar had used abusive words for woman,” a police officer said. Following this, a woman constable lodged an FIR against Chefalkar under sections 509 (outraging the modesty of a woman) and 500 (Punishment for defamation) of the Indian Penal Code. “We have registered an FIR and probing it,” added the officer.

The Times of India, October 1, 2018