UAE: The long-awaited asset auction of the two properties owned by the Heera Group’s MD, Nowhera Shaikh, will be conducted on January 23. This announcement has encouraged the nation’s residents who had previously invested in the schemes of the Heera Group. The Indian Supreme Court has announced the auction and will conduct it to recover the money lost by the defrauded investors.
The two properties are scheduled to be auctioned on January 23 to recover funds for investors in the UAE fraud case. They comprise 1,333 sqm of land in Banjara Hills, which has a built-up area on the 5th and 6th floors of Naina Towers, and the other is a commercial property of 3,114 sqm in Telagana’s Hydershakote Village. This auction has been set on an as-is-where-is basis by Hyderabad’s Enforcement Directorate (ED) with MSTC Ltd., which is a central public center working under the country’s Ministry of Steel.
Heera Group Asset Auction Promises Long-Awaited Justice to Defrauded Investors
The estimated recovery target announced by ED for the Investor Justice scheduled on January 23 is 1.9 billion INR or AED 81 million. The recovery target includes the legal charges imposed on the scammers as of November 11, 2024. The reserve price for each property is 450 million INR or AED 19.15 million, and the earnest money deposit per plot is 25 million INR or AED 1.06 million.
The Heera Group had previously sold high-yield investment products to investors that promised substantial returns. Some investment plans by the group include payment of AED 3,250 back to investors who invested a minimum of AED 100,000 for a locked-in period of one year. The other offers include the return of 65 to 80% of minimum deposits to investors who invested a minimum amount of AED 15,000 in Heera Textiles and Heere Foodex for a locked-in period of two years.
These lucrative investment opportunities tempted investors to invest in them, and some even took loans for that. However, a major trauma hit investors as the group collapsed and stopped offering the promised returns in 2018. Heera Group’s MD, Shaikh, was arrested, which left thousands of defrauded investors facing a huge financial loss. The Heera offices in Jumeirah Lake Towers and warehouses in Ras Al Khaimah and Sharjah were visited by scammed investors, but nothing came out of the visits.
A Hope for Justice to Investors in UAE Fraud Case After 6 Long Years
The Heera Group asset auction on January 23 has raised hope for justice for investors scammed in the UAE fraud case in 2018. A Dubai-based investor, MK, who has invested AED 90,000 in the group’s plans, said he could finally see a ray of hope after 6 long years. The president of All India Heera Group Victims Association, Shahbaz Ahmad Khan, expressed mixed emotions on the auction announcement. He said this step is indeed a step towards hope; however, the limited scope of compensation will raise concerns and leave out many victims.
Emphasizing the importance of filing the UAE fraud case, the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) said that the investors need to quickly act and register their fraud claims with SFIO, as without filing there is no chance they’ll be able to recover their financial loss. He added that the defrauded investors must prepare documents like ID proofs, bank statements, payment receipts’ copies, and copies of investment plans purchased from the Heera Group. He further said that the investors must post all the essential documents to SFIO’s Telangana office after getting them notarized.
Despite the fraud claims asked by SFIO in 2022, only 6,778 submissions worth AED 159 million were received, which is much less than the striking amount of AED 2.5 billion invested in the Heero Group by over 175,000 investors.
Heera Group Properties Inspection Scheduled from January 16 to 18
Before the asset auction of Heera Group scheduled on January 23, the two properties will be open for inspection for three days on January 13. The three-day inspection of the properties will be conducted between 10 am and 5 pm. The ED and MSTC have already made available the required information and contact details of the prospective buyers who are participating in the auction.
Speaking to Shahid Khan, a UAE-based school bus driver, a victim of the Heera Group UAE fraud case, who has lost AED 75,000 in the schemes, said the money he lost in the scam was all the hardly-earned savings he had saved after working for years from his small salary. He currently lives in Kolkata and is a father of six children, including three unmarried girls.
He further explained how his life has become a constant disaster since that unfortunate incident. He said that a WhatsApp created by defrauded investors provides him with all the updates related to the auction and the ongoing process of the UAE fraud case. He said that the past six years had been extremely difficult for him, as he had to borrow money to fulfill even his basic needs.
He further said that they’re still holding onto the smallest ray of hope, which can help them recover from this large financial loss. He concluded his statement by saying that this auction is still a vague chance of recovery, but still he prays for himself and every victim for recovery through this step.
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