SHIVAMOGGA: Heera Group of Companies’ Managing Director and president of All India Mahila Empowerment Party, Nowhera Shaikh, was brought to the city and produced before court that remanded her in police custody till August 3. She is accused of fraudulently collecting investments from lakhs of people from various parts of the country after promising high returns.
Superintendent of Police Dr Ashwini M told The New Indian Express that the Principal Civil Judge and CJM Court on Monday remanded her to police custody. Nowhera was brought to the city from Chanchalaguda Jail in Hyderabad on Sunday.
Police said Nowhera was brought to the city based on a complaint lodged by Muhammed Ateeque Shaikh, an engineer and a resident of Manjunatha Badavane here.
In his complaint lodged with CEN police on April 14, Ateeque alleged that Nowhera and two directors of her company, in videos circulated in WhatsApp and Youtube and aired in TV, promised of giving a return at the rate of 3%. They promised a dividend of `3,000 for an investment of `1 lakh. Ateeque and his wife Naziya Banu bought five bonds at `5 lakh each. While Ateeque transferred `15 lakh from his NRI account with SBI, his wife transferred `10 lakh from her Syndicate Bank account.
The couple also received a dividend of `6.73 lakh from April to May last year. However, the company stopped paying dividends. Ateeque and his wife realised that they were cheated and lodged a complaint.
Meanwhile, Ateeque told reporters that as interest on bank deposit is considered ‘haram’ in Islam, he invested the money in Nowhera’s company that claimed to be into halal gold business. He claimed that many others in the city have also invested, but are not coming forward to lodge complaints.