May Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَ
تَعَالَى bless all those who have contributed in the cause of holding truth
above everything else. We, the producers
of this document hold deep respect to all our Islamic Scholars who time and
again have stood up against all evil existing in our society. More than courage, it takes Imaan to stand up
and fight, and so we decided to test ourselves.
And we pray that no information in this document be a result of falsehood
or lead to falsehood. Let it be so.
Compiled by Younus Sayed
Timeline | Heera Group of
Companies
From 1998 to Now
Index
The Beginning
1. Till the age of 13 – 1972 to 1985.
2. Ghana Gold Facts - The Initial Illegal Trade
that helped Heera GoC establish its business.
3. Initial Offices of Heera Group &
Companies. 2007
4. Initial Stage of Business – “Share Holders
2007 to 2012”
5. Type of Staff & Commission Percentage
6. From Share Holders to “Members – 2012 to
2014” 2012
7. Heera PureDrops Facts – The Water Bottles
that helped Heera GoC build trust in Investors.
8. Early 2014 – Islamic Scholars and Their Roles
9. The Roles of Islamic Scholars – Donations to
Mosques and Madrassas and how it helped Ponzi.
10. Heera Went Online – August 2014 – From
Members to “Unit Purchasers – 2014 Onwards.” 2014
11. Emailing Unit Purchase Receipts, Xerox of
Hard Copies Instead of Original Certificates – 2015 Onwards 2015
12. Recruiting New Staff and the trouble that
followed. Hiring New MEs, DSAs, and
In-House Staff 2016
13. Meeting at Salim Ansari’s Office – Heera GoC
Staff Could not Handle the Questions
14. The Iftar Party in Mumbai – Nowhera Shaikh’s
Shows Herself to Heera GoC’s trusted MEs and DSAs.
15. Removal of Veil – Nowhera Shaikh Out of The
Closet
16. Belapur Mall – A Small Answer to the Business
on Ground Question
17. List of Heera GoC Offices and Operators up
until 2016
18. Kukatpally Mall – Further Countering “No
Business on Ground” – Defamation Used as a Tool 2017
19. Film Stars – Another Tool to Gain Investors’
Trust
20. The Role of Shaikh Ahmedullah Quraishi Madni
21. The Draining of Heera GoC bank accounts and
the Reason to Enter Politics.
2018: Policy Changes for Damage Control – Heera GoC
Downfall
22. Karnataka Elections Intent Made Known January
23. Payment Issues (Heera Textile Withdrawal) February
24. Policy Change #1 – February 2018 – No
Withdrawal for Heera Textile Investors
25. Policy Change #2 – March 2018 – New
"Withdrawal" Policy – Unofficial Declaration March
26. Investors Rushing For Help More Than Ever April
27. Karnataka Elections & The Holy Month of
Ramadhan May
28. Policy Change #3 – May 2018 – New Gold Scheme
29. Promise #1 – May 2018 – RBI Statement &
The Promise that August Will See Returns.
30. Investors Continue Criticizing Delay in
Payment and Decision to Enter Politics June
31. Policy Change #4 – June 2018 – 6-month
Withdrawal Policy & Blacklisting #2
32. Policy Change #5 – June 2018 – The Settlement
System
33. July Incident – Nalasopara Complaint Filed by
a Heera GoC Female Investor July
34. Promise #2 – Payments Will Be Made in the
Month of September August
35. Complaints – After So Many Failed Promises,
Investors Lost Hope on Heera GoC September
36. The October Story – Arrest October
NOWHERA TILL THE AGE OF 13 – 1972 TO 1985
Nowhera Shaikh, daughter of Nanna
Saheb and Bilqis Banu, was born in the year 1972 in a remote village in
Tirupati, Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh. Most of the Muslim families that reside in urban
India give more preference to Islamic Education more than Modern/Western
education. Nowhera Shaikh dropped out of school after passing her third grade
and continued attending the local madrassa for Islamic education. At the age of
about 13, Nowhera Shaikh was employed by a local madrassa as an Urdu/Arabic
teacher for younger students.
DONATIONS – COLLECTING ZAKAT – 1985 to 1987
It is custom that the
employees of a madrassa go about collecting donations from the local people for
the purpose of its functioning, and so Nowhera Shaikh too went door to door,
shop to shop with her students as well as other female teachers of the madrassa
she used to work for. It is known that Nowhera Shaikh was more beautiful and
charming than the rest of the population of the locality, and thus she was
welcomed and appreciated more than the rest of her colleagues.
FIRST MARRIAGE – LIQUOR AND DIVORCE – 1988 to 1994
Timely marriage being a
priority in Islam, Nowhera Shaikh got married to Abu Ba, a local Chittoor
resident, at the age of 16. Abu Ba was addicted to liquor and often was
verbally and physically abusive towards Nowhera. After numerous complaints by
Nowhera to her parents about how she was treated by Abu Ba, the family decided
to get her divorced. The marriage survived five years and the couple had 3
children before getting divorced in the year 1994.
SECOND MARRIAGE –HAJJ, MINDSET, LECTURE, AND A SECOND
DIVORCE – 1994 to 1997
Rehmat Peer was the Kazi
(Judge) who felicitated the divorce between Nowhera Shaikh and Abu Ba. Rehmat
Peer belonged to the Tablighi Jamat and was a respected figure in the locality.
Islam promises great rewards in the afterlife to a man who marries a divorcee
or a widow. Rehmat Peer, a staunch believer of Islam developed liking towards
Nowhera Shaikh. Even though, she had three children from her earlier marriage,
post her divorce, Rehmat Peer proposed marriage to Nowhera’s family, and the
family did not refuse. Nowhera and her
children moved in with Rehmat Peer and he provided the family with all one
could ask. Rehmat Peer practiced Hajj (holy pilgrimage to Meccah) on a yearly
basis and this time around, took Nowhera along with him. This is where things
took a big turn in Nowhera’s life.
HAJJ, THE HOLY PILGRIMAGE: Islam prohibits men and women to mingle in social
gatherings and thus the camping arrangements at the time of Hajj proceedings are
separate for men and women. Retiring in hotels during nights, pilgrims spend
the days in these camps. Religious leaders lecture the people on the history of
Islam and on the five major pillars of Islam; Shahada (belief in the oneness of
Allah), Salah (Prayer, our duty to worship The Creator alone), Zakat (our duty
to give in charity to the society and self, the importance of fasting, and the
significance of the holy pilgrimage, Hajj. Post such lectures, the attendants
take turn speaking about their belief, their homes, their families, their town,
and their personal experiences related to their belief.
THE MINDSET: Having collected quite an amount from people
in the name of charity for the madrassa she used to teach in, Nowhera Shaikh
knew that it is an obligation for Muslims to donate in the way of Allah. She
knew the art of speaking on Islam and collecting money from Muslims.
THE FIRST LECTURE: Nowhera stood up facing the crowd of
believers. Zakat, a duty on Muslims; she began her speech: “I belong to one of the many remote villages
in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh. My locality is known to be the land of Hindu gods.
There are thousands of Muslim families there who lack proper Islamic education
and there is much opportunity to do Da’wah (Invitation to Islam). My dream is
to have a big madrassa there where I could teach Islam to Muslim children and
do Da’wah to others” – composed to get a sense of what was said, as
narrated by one of her initial donors from U.A.E.
RETURNING TO DIVORCE: Rehmat Peer was completely unaware of what
had happened in the women’s tent at Hajj. They returned back to Tirupati and it
was not long before Nowhera Shaikh started getting calls from Gulf, “We are
impressed by your dream to construct a madrassa and so invite you and your
family to visit us in the Emirates. We are a group of people who would like to
help you realize your dream and help the Muslim residents at your village to
have their own big madrassa that could accommodate all. We want you to visit us
in the UAE so that we help you with funds for it” - composed to get a sense of
what was said, as narrated by one of her initial donors from U.A.E. This call
changed everything for Nowhera. She saw the money coming in; she knew how
Muslims donate generously for the building of madrassas and mosques. She
immediately informed her husband of all that had happened when they were in
Meccah (Hajj) and told him about the call. Rehmat Peer refused to allow Nowhera
to go on to collect donations to build a madrassa, and this resulted in a rift
between them. Subsequently, they separated and Nowhera Shaikh shifted her
children to her mother’s home and travelled to U.A.E. to visit the caller for
the donations for her dream madrassa. After much of waiting, Rehmat Peer
divorced Nowhera in the year 1997.
ZAKAT FROM GULF AND FOUNDATION LAID, MADRASSA JNAS –
1998
While her children were at
their grandfather’s, along with her brother Ismail Shaikh, Nowhera Shaikh went
on a spree of visiting numerous gatherings in the United Arab Emirates,
lecturing people about her dream of a madrassa in Tirupati, collecting
donations for it. She transferred the money back through hawala using the help
of Salman who later went on to become her third husband. On returning back to
Tirupati, she immediately purchased a land and started the construction of the
madrassa. By this time, Nowhera Shaikh sensed that the people in the Emirates
who were helping her build the madrassa belong to the Ahle Hadees (Salf) sect
of the community, and therefore she began addressing herself as an Ahle Hadees
follower which is why the madrassa was named Jamiatun Niswa as Salf, in short
JNAS.
THIRD MARRIAGE, THE BIG LIE AND THE BEGINNING OF PONZI
– 1998 to 2008
THIRD MARRIAGE: Her trips to and fro UAE began to increase
and the funds started flowing in more as she began providing her donors proof
of execution of the promised structure. Along with hawala that had high risk
and not always accessible at times, Nowhera Shaikh converted the cash she
collected to gold and brought them personally back to Tirupati. Her trips were
aided by a few of her relatives and Salman as well for most of the times. Her
association with Salman led them to become intimate with each other, which
eventually ended up in marriage.
THE BIG LIE: The village in which this madrassa was being
built was astonished as to how fast Nowhera Shaikh had managed to mint money to
construct this madrassa. People began questioning her as to how she could
manage to make such money for building the madrassa, and her reply was “Gold.”
She said she traded in gold, buying gold dust from the mines in Ghana,
transporting them to UAE, getting it processed into gold bars, and then selling
them to the UAE gold markets. The whole idea was so profitable that people
wanted to join her business to make a bit of the fortune she was making. They
wanted to know what exactly she was doing, and this is when Nowhera offered
them to be partner in business by investing; 10% per month was the first scheme
that was offered and people rushed to be a part of it. The 10% monthly return
offer had a cascading effect and hundreds of people began joining in. There was
no sight of any business on ground, and thus began the Heera Gold Ponzi.
THE PONZI BEGINNING: With all the love people where showering on
her, the word of mouth spread to an extent where people (mostly from religious
circles) from other states wanted to be a part of this Ghana Gold business. The
construction of the madrassa gave assurance to most of the potential investors that
Nowhera is a believer, and their investments would be safe. Huge money started
pouring in in the name of Ghana Gold business, and the first of offices in the
name of Heera Gold were opened in Mira Road, Thane, in the year 2007. Out of
the many who wanted to be a part of her so-called Ghana Gold business, one of
them was Salim Ansari, a prominent personality, resident of Mohammed Ali Road,
a close aide of Dr. Zakir Naik. In the year 2008, Salim Ansari opened a second
office near his residence in Mohammed Ali Road. This proved to be a boon for
Nowhera Shaikh, as Salim Ansari’s association with Dr. Naik was sufficient
enough for most of the regular Muslims to believe that the company, not yet
registered though, now named Heera Gold, was authentic and their investment
returns would be free from Riba (interest) and in safe hands.
YOU ARE SHAREHOLDERS | THE ENVIRONMENT, STAFF - 2008 TO
2010
INSIDE THE OFFICE: Even though the company was not registered
with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, India, both the Mumbai and Mira Road
offices began issuing Share Certificates to its Investors and most of the
transactions were done in cash. The basic picture painted to the potential
investors was that (a) the company is a registered public limited company, (b)
is an Islamic Business Group that trades in Gold and other Halal (permitted)
products and has offices in several states around India and abroad as well, (c)
the core agenda of the existence of this company is to fight Riba (interest),
which is Haram (prohibited) in Islam, (d), the company does not take
investments from non-Muslims and only services the Muslim community, (e) the
company’s founder is an Alima (Female Islamic Scholar) who runs a madrassa free
for poor female children in Andhra Pradesh. It was mandatory for all male staff
employed to sport beards, wear skullcaps, and were instructed to offer Salah
(prayers) on a timely basis. Also for the female staff members, burqa (Islamic
veil) was mandatory along with offering of Salah on a timely basis. This was
the initial environment in both the first and second offices of Heera Group and
this helped inducing more and more people into investing as the word of mouth
spread from home to home, especially via the female members of the families.
THE WORKING STAFF: General staff members used to manage the
regular back-office workload as in any regular company, Direct Selling Agents
(DSAs) who used to pitch the schemes and at times visit homes of potential investors
to explain schemes and enroll them in, Marketing Executives (MEs) were sort of
team leaders who used to manage a number of DSAs under them, and finally a
Branch Incharge/Operator who would be the head of the branch, Fareed Shaikh for
Mira Road, and Salim Ansari for Mohammed Ali Road branches respectively. A DSA
would earn anywhere between 1% to 3% out of the total money invested and the ME
would earn around 2% to 5% of the same. The branch head had a 5% share of the
total money invested. DSAs were employed in excess; housewives were in majority
in this category, while the eligibility criteria to become an ME was to rope in
investments of more than Rs. 1 crore.
Apart from all the conditions
mentioned above, it was mandatory for the MEs and DSAs themselves to Invest in
the company, thereby procuring genuine transactions in bank statements, which
were then displayed to every potential Investor, helping the company close the
deal. “I am a staff/ME/DSA, and yet I
myself am an investor in the company. There is no need to doubt; here’s my bank
statement.”
THE EFFECT: The bank statements of MEs and DSAs produced
before the potential investor proved to be the most powerful tool to induce
more people into investing into the company. The word of mouth spread fast
about this Islamic Business Group owned by a female Islamic Scholar, a Business
Woman, sustaining a madrassa providing free education to poor female children;
the opportunity for women in the Muslim community to work for an Islamic
Company seemed to be dream come true for them; and subsequently the office
environment and well-crafted system made Heera Gold a brand in several small
Muslim-residential pockets through India, eventually growing big enough to come
into the notice of quite a huge number of general public – A company providing
an opportunity to do Halal Tijarat, with goals of creating an Interest Free
World for the Muslim community not only in India, but throughout the rest of
the world!
THE AVAILABLE FOR SALE,
DONATIONS, AND A FEW LEARNED MEN – 2010 – 2012
THE AVAILABLE FOR SALE: Post the inclusion of Salim Ansari (Ex-Core
member of Islamic Research Foundation), following his footsteps, a few other
mentionable names joined into the group. Dr. Shehnaz Shaikh and Dr. Rizwan
Shaikh are amongst them. Dr. Shehnaz Shaikh used to work as a principal in Dr.
Zakir Naik’s Islamic Research Foundation School and her services were dismissed
citing her rude behavior towards other staff members and students of the
school. Like Salim Ansari, Dr. Rizwan Shaikh was also an IRF member who later
got connected to Heera Group. Having had connections with Dr. Naik, the three were
well connected with several Islamic Scholars belonging to the Ahle Hadees sect.
It is during this period when a prominent Islamic Scholar Meraj Rabbani was
suffering from financial crisis and was lodged in jail because of an FIR
registered against him from the Barelvi sect of the community for abusing
Khwaja Ghareeb Nawaz of Ajmer, Rajasthan, in one of his speeches. On coming to
know of Meraj Rabbani’s situation, Nowhera found an opportunity to buy his
services off by hiring the best of lawyers in the country to procure bail.
Meraj Rabbani now indebted to Nowhera gets released and surrenders his loyalty
to Nowhera. Almost all of his speeches then onwards included praises for
Nowhera Shaikh and Heera Group, resulting in more investments rolling in like
never before. Meraj Rabbani later on went to wed his daughter to one of Nowhera
Shaikh’s sons.
DONATION A PONZI TOOL: Apart from buying off Islamic scholar by
doing favors for them, donating small amounts to local mosque or madrassas of a
locality was the second biggest tool using which the group would easily rope in
large number of new investors from that respective locality in which the donation
was done. The donation system was such that all staff, MEs, DSAs, and other
individuals connected to the group were urged to inform the company of any need
in any of their local mosques; the company was always eager to donate. If a
need would be presented before the company, the core members of the group,
i.e., Ismail Shaikh (Nowhera Shaikh’s brother), Salim Ansari (Ex-IRF Member),
Dr. Rizwan Shaikh (Ex-IRF Member), and a couple of other well-known members of
the society would visit the mosque/madrassa, offer prayers with them in their
mosque, inquire about the need, and donate huge amounts of money to the
mosque/madrassa committee before handing over their visiting card which read,
“Islamic Business Group.” There was no need to promote the company through
words, a simple donation would do the trick. The committee members of the
mosque/madrassa would by default start praising the group before every
individual they met, the regular members/donors of the mosque would notice the
new construction done by the mosque and would inquire about it; thereby
becoming curious as to who were the God’s Men who helped us fix our mosque’s
bathroom area, for example, or who were they who helped us fix our Wudu
(washing) area, and so hundreds of believers from the locality were
effortlessly pulled into investing with the group.
SHAIKH AHMEDULLAH QUREISHI: Once these religious scholars
were roped in, the phrases “Halal Tijarat (Prohibited Trade) and Towards An
Interest Free World” were put forward as company tag lines. This raised eyebrows of several other
religious scholars and they started doing their own research into the subject,
Heera Gold. Out of the very few who took
their time out to know what’s going on, one of them who had delved more deep
than any other could at this point in time was Shaikh Ahmedullah Qureishi Umri
Madani. After days and nights of careful
study of all facts that he was able to get his hands on, Ahmedullah Qureshi
decided it was time this fraud need be stopped, and then followed his first
video warning all Muslims to refrain from investing in Heera Gold.
ASHRAF MOHAMMEDIYA: In the year 2010 to 2011, an Islamic Scholar
named Brother Ashraf Mohammadiya had raised his voice against Heera GoC. This Scholar had so many questions that
needed to be answered. A meeting was
held in Mumbai in which Dr. Shehnaz of Al Maimuna School, Heera GoC went to
meet Brother Ashraf. In this meeting,
Brother Ashraf raised all his doubts before Dr. Shehnaz. The discussion was on both Islam and
Economics. Dr. Shehnaz failed to satisfy
Brother Ashraf, and the meeting ended in a sour note. Brother Ashraf, being a renowned speaker, was
not threat that Heera GoC could have taken lightly. Something had to be done to silence him
up. A few days after this infamous meeting,
in one of the late hours of night, Brother Ashraf got visitors at his
home. A bunch of goons confronted
Brother Ashraf and threatened him to silence up against Heera GoC or face
consequences. This incident became known
to the near and dear ones of Brother Ashraf.
Brother Ashraf and others decided to play safe and not come into the
picture while continue to educate the people against Heera GoC. Although, these brothers managed to make some
difference, Heera GoC succeeded in crushing Brother Ashraf’s campaign against
them successfully.
STRAIGHT PATH SP: It was at this time itself,
than an NRI from Qatar too realized the fraud behind the Halal Tijarat and
Interest Free World tags and his research come out to the community almost
completely in line with that of Shaikh Ahmedullah Qureishi’s, and more. This individual in fact would use all sources
available online and present it to the people to warn them of what is about to
come.
THE EFFECT, PACIFICATION, MEMBERSHIP CERTIFICATES –
2012 TO 2014
THE EFFECT ON GROUND: The efforts of these men opposing to the scam
rolled out to the Muslim community got significant results, and people started
posing questions to the staff and Direct Selling Agents of the company, most of
which were unanswered. Both existing and
potentially new Investors questioned about company balance sheet, profit & loss
statements, tax documentations, etc.
Unable to answer them, the Agents would put these questions up to their Marketing
Executives who would then further put it up to their respective Operator/Branch
Manager. These branch managers would
then consult Nowhera Shaikh and they would come up with answers to pacify the
questioning crowd. Even until this point
in time, Nowhera Shaikh was an unknown face to public, still in the veil; even
most of the MEs, DSAs, and In-House Staff Members had no clue who actually was
Nowhera Shaikh, what did she look like.
All that they knew was that Nowhera Shaikh was a business woman who ran
a madrassa free of cost for poor children in Andhra Pradesh. The chaos however was not big enough to
undermine the effect of what the association of Meraj Rabbani with Heera Group
brought to the company, and by the beginning of 2012, Heera Group had started
establishing collection centers in gulf countries and NRIs and citizens of
other countries started investing into the group.
STOP QUESTIONING: The thinking tank of Heera Gold passed down a
pacifying explanation for their MEs, DSAs, and In-House Staff Members. For all those questioning in India, the agent
would claim that the group was majorly functioning in the gulf and had factories,
manufacturing units, branch offices, outlets, etc, there. To a potential investors in gulf, the agents
would explain that the company had their businesses in India. To a potential investor in Maharashtra, they
would say that the company owned businesses in Hyderabad, Bengaluru and gulf,
and to a potential investor in Hyderabad or Bengaluru, they would say that the
company owned businesses in Mumbai and gulf.
This explanation along with the 36% return per year offer did the
trick. The 36% return per annum was too
good to be true for many. The pile of
doubts lurking in their subconscious mind was flushed down the drain and
further more once they would get their monthly returns on time. All warnings were ignored and the questioning
crowed was reduced from their existing strength to that of around a percentage
left who were unwilling to give in to the 36% greed. They kept on fighting, stressing on the fact
that a shareholder has the right to know everything about the company and they
coaxed the shareholder to demand that the company show.
YOU ARE MEMBERS: Even though monthly dividends were deposited
into the Share Holders’ accounts, the issue of providing suitable answers to
ever-popping questions always kept the DSAs, MEs, and In-House Staff Members of
Heera GoC troubled. Shareholders wanted
to know why the company was not a Public Listed Company, and the excuse given
to them was that Heera Gold was an Islamic Business Group created with the
purpose to serve the Muslim Community only by providing them opportunities to
do trade under Islamic principle. There
were numerous questions posed by these shareholders and so to kill the
authority that comes with being a shareholder, the thinking tank of Heera Group
came up with a change in the internal documentation system. Now, instead of Share Holder Certificates,
Investors were given Membership Certificates along with Membership Cards. The Membership Card had no real benefit and
was merely used for identification purposes.
This switch from Shareholders to Members lessened the authority of
Investors over the company. A
shareholder could assume that he/she would have the privilege to know more
about the happenings of a company, but now that the investor became a member,
he/she was just a member with no actual rights to question the internal
happening of the company he had invested in.
HEERA PUREDROPS, PONZI TOOL: The lie of having businesses in other
locations of the world and the association with Meraj Rabbani versus the damage
done by Ahmedullah Qureishi and others resulted the need to gain more trust of
people, and hence the creation of Ponzi tools happened. Apart from a very few gold shops that were
funded by the incoming investments, the group made their first major investment
by the way of purchasing a water bottling facility in Hyderabad. A new company was inaugurated, Heera
PureDrops. The water bottles made
available to all Heera collection centers, gatherings, functions, etc, helped
build trust in old and potentially new investors. There is no record of Heera PureDrops to have
been distributed to local retail shops.
THE ROLE OF SCHOLARS, GROWTH,
AND THE NEED TO GO ONLINE - 2014
By early 2014, the incoming of
new investments was steady and so was the increasing number of members in the
questioning crowd. Yet, not much
business on ground was visible. Much
loss was borne by funding the few jewelry and textile shops, and Heera
PureDrops seemed to be draining the majority of the budget allotted to the
tools. Heera PureDrop was shut
down. It was during this time when the scholars
attempted a second go at raising serious alarm against the group.
Buying Scholars – Donations to
Mosques and Madrassas and how it helped Ponzi
Heera GoC knew that the real
threat would come from the Scholars in the community. One Ashraf Mohamadiya was silenced, but
others needed to be tamed as well - the sooner, the better. For Muslims, an Islamic Scholar holds an
extremely high status in the society. It
is believed that after the prophet (PBUH) and his disciples, it is the scholar
(Ulema) who have helped pass on the teachings of the religion from one
generation to another.
In addition to the existing
Aalims bought in favor of Heera GoC, Heera GoC started hunting for more of
them, buying them off with money, donating to Mosques and Madrassas in the
setting of Ponzi, and demanding that they work for her in the way of
propagating Heera GoC to their admirers.
Belonging to the Ahle Hadith group, Nowhera Shaikh used to could manage
to start gathering well known Scholars and faces to work for her. The donations made other innocent Aalims and
Muftis fall into the trap of promoting Heera GoC and its businesses and schemes
out of ignorance with pure and genuine intent thinking that it is for the
betterment of the community as a whole.
A huge number of Muslims fell
for the Scholar Trap, the Mosque & Ponzi Trap, the Madrassa & Ponzi
Trap and so more investments started pouring in. 2014 marked extraordinary success for Heera
GoC with investment going up to Rs. 5 Crore per individual and more. With a lot of money in their accounts, a
decent connection to people in power, friendship with big names in the country,
etc, Heera decided its time they go viral.
They decided to go online and this proved to be their biggest tool of
induction.
HEERA WENT ONLINE - AUGUST 2014 - FROM MEMBERS TO UNIT PURCHASERS
Later in August 2014, Heera’s
“Online Software” was ready to be rolled. Now, no more paperwork was required
to make new members, and so no trace of hard-copy evidence would be left
behind. Cash investments were minimized.
Heera Group started collecting money via cheques and online bank
transfers. The profit return still
around and more than 36% per annum and with the backing of Islamic Scholars,
fabricated Images on FB and edited Videos on YouTube mesmerized every investor
walking in. Almost none of them bothered
to give a second thought before investing. Mouth-to-mouth publicity as usual
was at full swing. Nowhera Shaikh became known nation-wide as a doctor as well
as an Islamic Scholar. Given the Islamic
backing, nobody ever thought to do a background check on her doctorate degree
or her Alima certification. The online
system was born.
The online system gave birth
to Heera ERP. The Direct Selling Agents and MEs just had to take basic details
of new investors, add a nominee name on an unsigned/unofficial form on which no
rules and regulations were written, and new deposits started coming in for the
company. Original documents of both
Investor and Nominee were asked to be produced, which were scanned and uploaded
into the ERP system.
Document List:
• Passport size photo of both
Investor and Nominee
• Adhaar card of both Investor
and Nominee
• Bank passbook of Investor.
• Cheque of Investor’s bank
account
After the procedure, a receipt
was handed over to the investor, and the investor was told that the certificate
will come after two months at their address. If the Investor’s address was not
permanent, then the certificate would come at the ME’s office address. After taking details, documents, and signature
on the above-mentioned Membership Application Form, the DSA would initiate an
online approval process.
Of note is that in this online
approval, they used to copy and paste the scanned photograph of the investor,
scan and paste the investor’s signature from the Membership Application Form to
the Membership Submission Form and fill in the gathered details in order to
create an ID. The online membership form when printed had minimum rules and
regulations mentioned, but the membership request form that they copy pasted
signatures into had complete rules and regulation.
After creating the ID, the
Agent had to save a copy of the Online Approval Form in PDF format in his
Computer. Note, that the investors’ signatures in this online form were scanned
and copy pasted.
Within 24 hours of completing
this process by the Agent and gaining permission from the core management team
of Heera, the Online Software used to generate an IBG number for this new
investor, which would be emailed to the Agent’s Company Email Address and a
Text Message would be sent to the Investor’s Registered Mobile Number. Investors were informed about the change in
system and that they will be issued Unit Purchase Receipts henceforth.
EMAILING UNIT PURCHASE RECEIPTS, XEROS OF HARD COPIES INSTEAD OF ORIGINAL CERTIFICATES
Until August 2015, the
certificates were either delivered to the investor in hand or were delivered to
the investors via the Hyderabad office by post to the Investors’ homes or
offices as required by investors. In August 2015, the Hard Copy Certificates
were stopped. Instead, online certifications were issued. If an Investor
demanded printout, Heera Group would take a black-and-white printout and give
it to them. This practice of providing black-and-white certification to
investors again was an attempt to weaken proof of investment.
Investors kept on coming but
the change in certification was not noticed, as new investors never knew or had
never seen the format of old certificates. At this point in time, Heera had
complete control on all New Investor Accounts. Copy pasting of signatures began
being practiced to a great extent under the garb of going digital.
THE 2016 IFTAR PARTY AND REMOVAL OF VEIL
Recruiting New Staff and the
trouble that followed. Hiring New MEs,
DSAs, and In-House Staff: going oneline, ERP, and
mailing of certificates made the functioning of Heera GoC easier than
ever. The induction of new investors was
never as easy as they were during the year 2016. Unimaginable amounts of investments started
pouring in. People were rushing to
deposit their money into Heera GoC.
There was a need to hire a new batch of MEs and DSAs. New in-House staffs were hired. Recruitment date was October 2, 2016.
A new success story was
written every day for Heera GoC, but when trying to
understand the way of functioning of Heera GoC to satisfy potential investors, these new MEs and DSAs had
questions that were not met with appropriate answers from the sernior MEs, DSAs, or In-House Staff Members. Neither could the Branch Managers/Operators provide answers and so a meeting was held in the Bombay main office.
MEETING AT SALIM ANSARI'S OFFICE - STAFF UNABLE TO HANDLE QUESTIONS FROM POTENTIAL/NEW INVESTORS
Eventually, after a lot of
pressure from the new questioning investors, the issue was escalated by Heera
staff and agents (DSAs) to Nowhwra Shaikh via Salim Ansari. This meeting was in
Salim Ansari’s office. MEs and DSAs complained that nobody has seen Nowhera
Shaikh. MEs and DSAs mentioned that investors were questioning company balance
sheets, stating that they were company’s sleeping partners and they don’t know
who the owner is. If she escapes, nobody will know who she was. A sense of
insecurity was in the investors. Investors also asked company business contacts
and locations of Textile Factories, Foodex, etc. Investors asked the MEs and
DSAs that if there is a company in Ghana, he would send his relative who is in
Ghana to check the factories there. Same offer was made by investors for Dubai.
Salim Ansari got troubled with
these questions. He had no answers and assured the MEs and DSAs that he would
put the issue up with Nowhera Shaikh. Soon an Iftar Party for MEs and DSAs was
announced.
AN IFTAR PARTY TO PROVIDE ANSWERS – NOWHERA SHAIKH SHOWS HERSELF TO HER STAFF
In this meeting, a new system
was introduced - The Blacklist System started. Nowhera Shaikh mentioned that if
an investor is troubling too much, then the MEs, DSAs and/or Office Staff
should ask the investor to write a letter stating that that they do not have
faith in the company after which she assured the MEs and DSAs that the
investors' money will be returned in 10 to 20 days' time. She also instructed
the Operators, MEs, and DSAs present in the meeting that they should warn the
Investor that once they are blacklisted, they would never get a chance to
invest again.
In the same meeting, Nowhera
Shaikh had informed her MEs and DSAs to address the investors as Unit
Purchasers and not Investors.
The Statements Nowhera Shaikh
made in this Iftar Party (Internal Change):
"From now onwards, you
have to address “Investors” as “Unit Purchasers.”
"You won’t say
“Certificate,” but instead it will be “Unit Purchase Receipt.”
"Instead of “Profit,” use
the word “Benefit.”
"The company will not
show any Balance Sheet to any Investor/Unit Purchaser. If any clients feels
it’s Haraam and they don’t trust on Company anymore. Make them to fill the
no-trust form and mail us their IBG Number. Within 20 days, their capital will
be returned to them and they will be black listed from our company forever.”
REMOVAL OF VEIL IN PUBLIC – NOWHERA SHAIKH OUT OF THE CLOSET
Gaining more confidence after speaking up before a huge number of staff in Mumbai, Nowhera decided to come out in public. She dropped her facemask and started making public appearances since then. A few of the Islamic Scholars immediately gave their opinion that
this move of her was wrong. Some of the
new Investors though became suspicious of the business being Haram or Halal.
Whenever these Investors demanded Heera to show them company balance sheet,
they got no reply from Heera staff. These new investors believed that since
Heera propagated Halal Trade, the investors had the right to see company
balance sheet and accounts as their investment in Halal Trading would make them
partners in percentage, share holder, but unfortunately this was not the case
and these investors never got satisfactory answers from the agents or any of
the staff members of Heera.
Why did Nowhera remove the veil
from her face? The explanation given was
that because Nowhera had to socialize with important people in the society to
the extent of even the Prime Minister of the Country, it was necessary for her
to remove her face veil during security checks. The scholars replied, "if her conduct was in a manner as to not attract people towards her beauty, it would have been acceptable, but the makeup too loud and her age is not old enough for Shariah to permit revealing face in public." This was the majority of the scholars' opinion.
Regardless, the few investors
who doubted Heera GoC’s way of functioning spread the word against HG and the
common investor started looking at HG with suspicion. Halal Trade was HG’s
claim, but there did not seem to be any proof of the claims and statements made
by the CEO, MEs, DSAs, and In-House Office Staff Members of Heera GoC. Apart from a water purification and bottling
plant in Hyderabad, there weren’t much for HG to show. No actual Textile
Manufacturing Unit, no Food Processing Unit, no Granite Mining Business, and
the Ghana Gold Trading Business was always suspicious.
No ME has seen any
manufacturing unit and all they have seen only Heera Group company outlets,
exhibitions, and private labeling companies with Heera Group products being
manufactured in it. Until today, no ME or DSA has visited Ghana. People began to understand that HG's show of
business was because of private labeling of products, making them available in
their malls, marts, and shops along with some exhibition shops in exhibition
events only.
At this point in time, HG's
MEs, DSAs, and In-House Office Staff Members too started to realize that HG is
hiding too much from them, but the kind of salaries they received was too high
for them to even think of rebelling. They continued working on all the
guidelines issued to them irrespective of knowing/not knowing what harm it
would cause to most of the people investing in the company in the near future,
especially those who come in late.
BELAPUR MALL - A SMALL ANSWER TO THE BUSINESS ON GROUND QUESTION
Even though the number of
investments pouring in kept increasing in folds, Heera GoC never managed to
convince people that they really owned businesses on the ground. Three to four months after this Iftar Party,
Belapur Mall opened. The mall as most of
us believe was nothing but another tool to attract more investments from the
community.
LIST OF HEERA OFFICES AND OPERATORS UP UNTIL 2016
By the end of 2016, Heera GoC
had offices in the following areas with the following people working as Operators/Branch
InCharge & MEs:
1. 2007 – Mira Road - Operated by Farid and then
later by Dr. Rizwan. Until 2014, Mira
Road office was considered as the Head Office of Mumbai.
2. 2008 – Salim Ansari opened an office Bhindi
Bazaar.
3. 2012 – Dr. Rizwan Shaikh's wife Roshan Ara
office in Kurla was overtaken by Heera GoC, and a new company by the name Fin
Capital was opened.
4. 2013 – In 2013/2014, a person by the name
Abdul Aziz opened a Heera Gold office in Marol.
5. 2015 – August 2015 onwards, Salim Ansari
opened two offices more. One in Mumbra
and one in Kurla. The Bhindi Bazar
office was run by Salim Ansari’s son, Siddique Ansari, and the Mumbra office
was managed by Shoaib Ansari, and the Kurla office was run by his sister’s son,
Abdullah Ansari.
6. 2016 – Irfan Ghadiyali worked as an ME from
home and used to go door to door to collect cheques of his client until
2016. In late 2016, he also opened his
office at Mohammed Ali Road near Bismillah Hotel.
7. 2016 – New ME Khalid Basheer Sayed opened an
office near Kalapani Masjid, Madanpura
8. 2017 – In 2017 Ramdhaan, one Aktar bhai
opened an office in Marol.
9. 2017 – Another office was opened by Salim
Ansari at Roha, which was managed by his employee Abdullah Siddique.
10. Shabbir Gazdar - Jogeshwari Deewana center.
11. Aziza Juwale from Home, Nerul, Navi Mumbai
12. Abdul Aziz - Madanpura
13. Hussain bhai – Kurla – Operated from home and
later opened his office in Kurla.
14. Irfan Shaikh office place some where in
Powai.
15. Akmal Moosa Opened an Office in Pune, which
is run by his uncle Basheer.
16. One office was opened in Uttar Pradesh by one
Salman. This office was run by Naseem.
There were many more who
opened their offices with Heera GoC in the year 2016 and 2017.
2017, DEFAMATION THREATS AND THE INTENT TO CONTEST KARNATAKA
Kukatpally Mall – Further
Countering the “No Business on Ground” Question – Defamation Used as a Tool: In the early period of 2017,
the Hyderabad Mall in Kukatpally was opened.
As understood by those watching, the opening of malls was merely a tool
to attract more investors, just like donations and buying off Islamic Scholars
were. In the early period of 2017, post
tons of donations to Mosques and Madrassas, opening of malls, buying off of
Islamic Scholars, etc, the questions against Heera GoC began to diminish,
almost to the extent that Heera GoC, Nowhera Shaikh, and the 36% returns per
annum seemed to look like it would take the whole community to a higher level
of progress. Sisters went against
brother, wives went against husbands, fathers went against son, etc, and vice
versa. Those in the grip of 36% returns
were winning the war of words. Heera GoC
now had business to show, scholars to boast of, and the donation talk was a mouth
shutter. People kept on investing.
Soon enough, one Mr. Sarfaraz
Faizi, an Islamic Scholar of Jamiat E Ahle Hadith, Kurla, who had been studying
the way of functioning of Heera GoC for quite a while, took a stand on the
issue and voiced his suspicion on Heera GoC.
For Heera GoC, this was again a big setback. They could not afford Mr. Sarfaraz Faizi’s
voice to reach far enough to damage their reputation. Subsequently, threats along with a 100 Crore
defamation notice were served to Mr. Sarfaraz Faizi by the legal team of
Nowhera Shaikh's. The after effect of this defamation notice was that Mr.
Sarfaraz Faize, aka, Mr. Ashraf Mohamaddiya, was made to go mute on the
issue. Two of our most respected
scholars were restrained from going public on the issue. The threat-goon-defamation combo was a
winner.
FILM STARS - ANOTHER TOOL TO GAIN INVESTORS' TRUST
Invitations to film start for
new office opening, wedding ceremonies, and other gatherings. Karishma Kapoor, Suhail Khan, Khali, Sonu Sood, Arbaz Khan, Sunil Shetty, and several others. Vidoes available in public domain. All arranged by Adv. Vineed Dhanta.
THE ROLE OF SHAIKH AHMEDULLAH QUREISHI MADANI
All this while, there was one
man though who was practically threatened, goons were sent to harm him,
defamation served, but he refused to give in.
Shaikh Ahmedullah Quraishi Madni.
Mr. Quraishi kept on speaking against Heera GoC via all medium possible,
be it social media and/or public lectures.
He took all chances he could to warm people of the scam they were
falling into. A few of his close friends
can be seen in the videos supporting him, standing by his side. The only thing unfortunate was that his reach
was much limited in quantity, but excelled in quality. This man used to call a spade a spade at his
best of his times, and a spade a spade even when he saw his worst. May Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى bless him
with the best in life and in the Hereafter.
THE DRAINING OF BANK ACCOUNTS AND REASON TO ENTER POLITICS
In early to mid 2017, the
induction of investors began reaching a saturation point. New investors were not coming in as fast as
they should for Heera GoC to be able to pay the Benefits to its existing
Investors. The outgoing became more than
the incoming. The existing businesses
did not gain sufficient returns and the money spent and being spent on luxury
was taking a toll. This made Nowhera
Shaikh and other Core Members of HG realize that soon things are going to go
out of hand and so something needed to be done.
Hence, the idea to contest Karnataka Elections 2018 took birth.
If one may ask how would
contesting in an election be a solution to such a problem, then the answer
would be that HG actually never dreamt of a full-sweep victory in Karnataka or
even anything close to 50%, but rather was hoping for a decent number for it to
play a supportive part in whatever government gets formed there. If successful,
arresting Nowhera Shaikh would mean withdrawal of support of AIMEP from the
would-be Karnataka Government, cashing on the belief that the Elite Political
Class is immune to the wrath of law.
in the month of October 2017,
AIMEP began to be formed from support within India and from Gulf Countries such
as the UAE, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia. The Karnataka Elections was to happen in
May 2018. Investments still kept pouring in, and the outgoing became a
stressor.
2018, A SERIES OF POLICY CHANGES
January 2018
Karnataka Elections Intent
Made Known in January 2018: By this time, the new of
Nowhera Shaikh contesting Karnataka Elections became public only to the extent
that those closely connected with HG knew of the decision. This gradually
spread across to a few investors and also caused panic among many. A few
Investors began questioning HG as to what was the need of contesting elections,
while several Investors approached HG to withdraw their investments on coming
to know of Nowhera Shaikh's decision to enter politics. By the end of January
2018, Heera GoC had already started using a lot of money in preparation of the
Karnataka elections. Due lack of awareness, the majority of the existing
Investors never knew about the Election Decision and also never cared as HG
never failed in paying suitable dividends to almost all of its investors. Yet,
more and more investments started pouring in.
February 2018
Payment Issues (Heera Textile
Withdrawal): By this time, HG started
focusing completely towards Karnataka Elections. Quite a many trips were made
to Karnataka, and quite a many stays took place. The Investors who had applied
for Withdrawal in Textile, Foodex, and PureDrops (3-month waiting period) in
the month of November 2017, got a shock of their life. Their Withdrawals were
not processed. Investors who applied for Withdrawal in Heera Gold Exim Ltd.
(2-month waiting period) in December 2017, did not get their Withdrawal.
These investors started
frequenting HG offices in all their respective states/cities. Once again, the
MEs, DSAs, and In-House Office Staff Members of HG were pressurized by the
Investors to give them answers as to why their Withdrawals had not been
processed. As the days passed by, it became increasing difficult for HG workers
to handle the visiting investors. The pressure on the Operators of the
respective HG branches began to peak and so the word was put up to Nowhera
Shaikh and other Core Members of HG, who at this point in time were doing their
best to ignore HG issues and concentrate on Karnataka Elections.
Policy Change #1 – February
2018 – No Withdrawal for Heera Textile Investors
Heera Textile Policy
"Withdrawal" change announcement. In the earlier policy, 1 unit would
cost 2 lakhs and benefit would come in 15 months. The Benefit meted out was of
Rs. 1,00,000/- to Rs. 1,20,000/- against a deposit of 1,00,000/- in 15 months,
i.e., "more than double" the amount invested in only a short period
of "15 months." The policy was changed from the earlier 1-year
lock-in periods to now a 2-year lock-in period without the consent of Heera
Textile investors.
Investors who were expecting
their Withdrawals in February 2018 were to wait another year, i.e., February
2019, to realize the return. Withdrawal for general investors stopped
completely, and only the near and dear ones of HG were favored and Withdrawals
given.
Cashing on to the illiteracy
of the community, people who approached HG during this period of time for Heera
Textile Withdrawals were asked to sign a document which stated their acceptance
of the new 2-year policy. Those who sensed scam, did not give in and rather
started fighting against HG, called it a scam, and were desperately seeking
legal help which at most times were difficult to find. HG kept funding the
Karnataka Election dream neglecting the persisting and ever-increasing pressure
on its MEs, DSAs, and In-House Office Staff Members. The Operators being
extremely close to Nowhera Shaikh, by this time, knew what was going on but
decided to support Nowhera Shaikh's plan to contest Karnataka Elections with
the same hope that belonging to the Elite Political class would make Nowhera
Shaikh and the rest of them immune to the wrath of law.
March 2018
The news of Nowhera Shaikh
entering politics spread further on, which made the Muslim community in general
sit up and think. "A female Muslim in politics" did not go down well
with the majority. More people started filling in applications for withdrawal
and the amount of withdrawal became an impossible task for HG to handle.
Karnataka Elections was the only way forward for HG and so something had to be
done to calm down people who came in for Withdrawal. HG was confident that
until they transferred the "Benefits" to the majority of the
investors, word of mouth would remain in their favor, but this was not the
case.
The February Withdrawal
tension in addition to the March Withdrawal pressure had to being in a new
policy change. Now, not only Investors of Heera Textile, but Investors of Heera
Gold Exim Ltd., Heera Foodex, and Heera PureDrops as well were frequenting HG
offices for their Withdrawal to be processed. The recent February Heera Textile
Policy change was not enough to ward of the Investors. A new policy announcement
was made.
Policy Change #2 – March 2018
– New "Withdrawal" Policy – Unofficial Declaration
Nowhera Shaikh instructed
Heera Group that all those who have applied for "Withdrawal" will get
their money back in 6 months instead of the earlier 2 month period for Heera
Gold Exim Ltd and 3-month period for Textile, Foodex, and PureDrops. There were
no circulars or mails issued for the same, but the MEs, DSAs, In-House Office
Staff Members were instructed by their respective Operators to inform the Investors
about the change in Withdrawal Time Period as follow:
Withdrawal Time Period Revised
Company Earlier Revised
Heera Gold Exim 2 months 6
months
Heera Textile 3 months 6 months
Heera Foodex 3 months 6 months
Heera PureDrops 3 months 6
months
HG still managed to pay
Benefits, but the Withdrawal system was all messed up by this time.
Practically, no Withdrawal was processed for any of the Investors, again except
the very near and dear ones of Nowhera Shaikh.
April 2018
Investors Rushing For Help More
Than Ever: Benefits were continued to be
given for Heera Gold Exim Ltd. Only
about 40% to 50% of investors got their Textile Benefits. No benefits were
given for Foodex or Pure Drops. A few
investors had put up Urgent Withdrawal, but Heera failed. Here is when people started approaching Mr.
Shahbaz Ahmed Khan, who had raised his voice against Heera’s misdoings. The story of Mr. Shahbaz Ahmed Khan is quite
extensive and covering it here in this report will be too big a task. Also, the story still continues to this day
of 28th December 2018
May 2018
Karnataka Elections & The
Holy Month of Ramadhan
Nowhera Shaikh and the Core
team of Heera Group of Companies were in Karnataka for the elections. About 1000 Innovas were hired, majority of
which actually stood idle. Two five star
hotels were booked, one for the VVIPs and the other for generally important
people. Sources say that anybody who had
to meet Nowhera Shaikh, had to go through a strict bodyguard check. Security men with arms were made to check
every individual before being allowed to enter Nowhera Shaikh room in The Leela
Palace.
While politics was being
discussed in Karnataka, in the world of Heera Investments, Heera GoC stopped
paying Benefits as well. This month saw
stopping of all payments, Withdrawal and Benefits. One could say that 5% of the investors were
given Benefits, whoever raised their voices while others were simply given no
answers. Investors began calling Heera
GoC Call Centers and the Call Center employees were failing to handle the
investors’ questions.
Policy Change #3 – May 2018 –
New Gold Scheme
The Call Center employees were
failing to handle the investors’ questions and once again the issue of
investors calling in too much was escalated to Nowhera Shaikh who was too busy
with the Karnataka elections. A new
policy or scheme had to be put in place to get in more money to pay benefits to
the existing Investors who were asking their money back. The Scheme was named Gold Scheme. In this scheme, new investors were lured to
purchase gold for less than market rate by paying the money in advance. The gold purchased however was to be
delivered in 90 days. Not very
successful, but many people fell for the trap.
Sources reveal that not giving Benefits but yet launching a new scheme
was only with the purpose of getting in as much money as possible before
quitting. The dream of becoming a part
of the future Karnataka election and thus becoming immune to harsh prosecution
was in the minds of Nowhera Shaikh and the Core Members of Heera GoC.
Ramadhan began on May 26,
2017. A month of prayers, charity,
fasting, and worshipping of Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى The Most Beneficent
and Merciful. In this month, even the
least of believers in the community strive to submit their wills to Allah’s and
follow the teachings of Prophet Mohammed (Peace Be Upon Him) as much as
possible. Fighting, quarrelling,
arguing, etc, cannot be a part of this month to the least. Two major teachings of Islam Sabr and Shukr –
Being patient and being grateful are also practiced to its extremes. The month was meant to show no rebelling
against Heera GoC, but then in just a matter of 3 to 4 days, Nowhera Shaikh
came up with the RBI Bank Transaction Limit.
Promise #1 – May 2018 – RBI
Statement & The Promise that August Will See Returns.
Nowhera stated that RBI had
put limits on transactions, and that GST has made it difficult for the
transactions. People were asked to wait for 2 months and were told that all
payment will be done in August onwards.
June 2018
Investors Continue Criticizing
Delay in Payment and Decision to Enter Politics: People started questioning
limit in bank transaction limit due to RBI, and were confused. The educated
class started asking that if Bank Transaction would have been problem, then
companies such as Reliance, Infosys, Tata, etc, must also have the same
problem, but it did not seems so. After Eid, Investors started criticizing
Nowhera Shaikh for entering politics. The pressure on Heera Group kept
increasing. People started seeking alternatives forces to find solutions to
their problems. One of the individual who offered help was Shahbaz Ahmed Khan
whose office was on the same building to that of Heera GoC.
Policy Change #4 – June 2018 –
6-month Withdrawal Policy & Blacklisting #2
The 6-month Withdrawal Policy
of all companies was made public. And
all previous Withdrawals irrespective of their dates applied were to be given
in December 2018. Even Emergency
Withdrawals were to be given in December 2018.
Salim Ansari got troubled and
himself recreated a new Blacklist Form.
Salim Ansari expected that this blacklist move would deter Investors
from withdrawing their investments, but he was wrong. Earlier when Nowhera Shaikh had announced the
Blacklisting System in the Iftar Party in 2016, it proved to be effective, but
this time round, Salim Ansari’s attempt to refrain Investors from withdrawing
failed miserably. A huge percentage of
the investors sensed that all their money would be lost and so rushed to Salim
Ansari’s office to agree to be blacklisted in order to withdraw their money
immediately.
Policy Change #5 – June 2018 –
The Settlement System
The number of people agreeing
to be blacklisted was huge. The
documents reached Heera GoC Head Office in Hyderabad. Returning such a huge amount back was indeed
an issue for Heera GoC, and so a new deviation had to be placed in. A new policy was given birth to and the
Settlement System was announced.
The blacklist documents were
scrapped by Heera GoC and the Investors were asked to visit their respective
Heera GoC offices and sign a Settlement Form for their respective
withdrawals. In this settlement form,
the Investors were made to agree that the benefits they received until the date
of settlement would be deducted from the capital amount. I.e, if an investor had invested Rs. 10 lakh
rupees 2 year ago, and had received about Rs. 7 lakhs as benefit, then he/she
would be returned Rs. 3 lakh only.
There were many other terms
and conditions in this settlement form, which quite a many of the investors
failed to comprehend. Most of the
investors were desperate to get their money back and owing to illiteracy, some
of them signed this document.
July 2018
July Incident – Nalasopara
Complaint Filed by a Heera GoC Female Investor
A sister from Nalasopara
sister made a video threatening suicide if Heera GoC would not return back her
money. Heera GoC panicked and a group of Heera GoC Core Members went to meet
this sister. They offered her to return
the money but asked her that she first make a video against Shahbaz Ahmed Khan,
stating that Shahbaz Ahmed Khan had tricked her into making the suicide
video. They also made her talk to Molly
Thomas and tell her that Shahbaz Ahmed Khan fooled her into filing an FIR. In the video this sister made against Shahbaz
Ahmed Khan, this sister stated that Shahbaz Khan had asked her to make a video
against Heera GoC. Heera GoC took this
video and uploaded it on their official YouTube Channel named Heera Group
Official, and promised to pay this sister her money soon. A few days passed and
when this sister approached Heera GoC again for her money, they did not
respond. Once again, this sister contacted Shahbaz Ahmed Khan. Shahbaz Ahmed
Khan again asked her to make a video in which she narrated the complete story
of deceit by Heera GoC Core Members.
Shahbaz Ahmed Khan then
highlighted this video and urged people to take cognizance of the issue and to
approach the courts for their money. As Shahbaz Ahmed Khan highlighted this
video, Heera GoC rushed and made payment to this sister and asked her to revert
back to lies, but truth was out in the open.
August 2018
Since in the month of May
2018, Nowhera Shaikh had promised to start making payments from August, but
failed, people began getting restless and a few investors visited Salim
Ansari’s office and ransacked it.
Promise #2 – August 2018 –
Payments Will Be Made in The Month of September
August 22 announcement was
made stating that Benefit will be declared at month end and that September 1 to
30 will see disbursement of benefits to everybody. The Settlement System was
withdrawn in August 2018.
September 2018
Complaints – After So Many
Failed Promises, Investors Lost Hope on Heera GoC: Investors waited throughout
September 30, 2018. A few investors yet became restless and visited Hyderabad
and other Heera offices, and a few investors also started frequenting Shahbaz
Khan’s office. By this time, Mr. Shahbaz
Ahmed Khan had registered Heera Victims’ Association. A group of Investors Gathered at Banjara
Hills Police Station, Gallinews uploaded a video in which Nowhera Shaikh
addressed Investors as Keeda. She also
said that whoever approaches court will be paid via court. Investors hit the
street demanding actions against Heera GoC.
In the same month, SEBI confirmed Heera GoC to have run a Ponzi
scheme. ED, SFIO, and EOW started
probing the case. And finally we get a
video where Nowhera Shaikh threatens Investors.
Sources also reveal that
Nowhera Shaikh had sold one of her properties in Hyderabad after which she paid
Benefits to a small percentage of Investors in late September 2018, Early
October 2018, out of the fear that if she does not, then her arrest would be
sooner than expected.
October 2018
The October Story – Arrest: Benefits were not distributed
even in by the end of September, and so in the beginning of October, people
started calling. Most of the call center people quit their job. Mira Road old
office was shifted to a new location. Settlement System was made online again
from October 1 to 10. Investors started visiting Hyderabad from other states. A
few people threatened FIR and got their money. A few people did FIRs and got
their money. A few investors were sent back without money. Some were roughed up
at the Hyderabad office.
Shamsi TV covered the news of
these bouncers assaulting investors. After the news was out, more investors
started visiting Heera office. As the pressure increased Heera employees locked
the main door and sat in throughout their job timings.
No where to go, more investors
started visiting Mr. Shahbaz Ahmed Khan.
Mr. Shahbaz Ahmed Khan who had then registered Heera Gold Victim
Association, had also taken out a rally against Heera Group of Companies. People started joining in with Mr. Shahbaz
Ahmed Khan. Not only the investors, but
non-investors who were concerned of the affect that this scam could cause to
the community joined hands with Mr. Shahbaz Ahmed Khan.
Efforts were made by Heera
Group of Companies to curb down the struggle of the newly formed Heera Victims’
Association. An audio of Dr. Shehnaz
made rounds in social media and WhatsApp groups in favor of Nowhera Shaikh.
Nowhera Shaikh. Dr. Shehnaz: “Baarish Hoti hai to keeday makaude saaf ho
Jate hai.” Gallinews highlighted this
audio through their YouTube Channel.
Despite the efforts made by
Dr. Shehnaz and Nowhera Shaikh, people continued visiting both Heera Group
offices and Mr. Shahbaz Ahmed Khan to find out a solution to the issue. Numerous threats were issued to Mr. Shahbaz
Ahmed Khan and all others who were supporting the Investors to file an FIR
against Heera Group of Companies. Audios
and video were fabricated to defame and humiliate Mr. Shahbaz Ahmed Khan and
others in an attempt to derail them from their struggle to help the Investors
approach the court of law.
Applications began piling up
and regardless of all attempts by Heera Group of Companies to stop this one FIR
against them, an FIR was registered in Banjara Hills Police Station, Nowhera
Shaikh was arrested, and the rest is in public.
QUESTIONS NOT YET ANSWERED:
According to the police,
Sheikh’s companies peddled Heera gold investment schemes and Heera Foodex and
other schemes that promised annual returns of over 36 per cent per annum on the
original deposit. 3% profit of total
investment was paid every month to each investor. Nowhera Shaikh, Heera GoC Core Members, her
family members, Marketing Executives and Direct Selling Agents need to answer
the following:
1. Is Nowhera Shaikh an Islamic Scholar? If yes, then where is the certificate? Where was she certified from? Is this institute acknowledge by the
Government of India?
2. Does Nowhera Shaikh holds an MBA Degree? If yes, where is the certificate? Which University?
3. Meraj Rabbani (Islamic Scholar) Propagated
Heera Group. Now absconding. Why does he not come up in support of Heera
GoC?
4. Jalaluddin Qasmi (Islamic Scholar) Propagated
Heera Group. Now silent. Why does he not come up in support of Heera
GoC?
5. Arshad Bashir Madani (Islamic Scholar)
Propagated Heera Group. Not
reachable/silent. Why does he not come
up in support of Heera GoC?
6. Mohammed Aqil Propagated Heera Group. Not reachable/silent. Why does he not come up in support of Heera
GoC?
7. Salim Ansari, one of the oldest ME and
relative of Nowhera Shaikh. Why is he
absconding now if he has done no crime?
8. Dr. Rizwan Shaikh, one of the oldest ME. Why is he absconding now if he has done no
crime?
9. Heera GoC states that they have several Food
Processing Units in India and other parts of the world including UAE, Kuwait,
Saudi Arabia, etc. Provide contact,
location, and proof of business transactions?
10. Heera GoC states that they have several
Fabric Manufacturing Units in India and other parts of the world, including
UAE, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and China.
Provide contact, location, and proof of business transactions?
11. What are the facts of Heera GoC gold trading
with Ghana?
12. What businesses can promise such a steady
return of 36% per annum.
13. Investors were initially Share Holders, then
converted to Members, then Unit Purchasers, and Heera Group offices would then
only provide Xerox of Unit Purchase Receipts instead of any real certification. What was the purpose of this transition?
14. Where is the list of investors? Why did they submit this affidavit stating
that CCS destroyed the Investors’ list?
15. Why haven’t you made your balance sheets,
accounts, and businesses public?
16. Nowhera Shaikh had registered two new companies
in 2017 by the name of Heeragold Fabrics Pvt. Ltd. and Heeragold Foodex Pvt.
Ltd., both registered in 2017, Maharashtra, both matching names and/or intend
of owned companies, i.e., Heera Textile and Heera Foodex. Purpose?
17. Where is Nazneen of Jeddah, KSA? It is known that she used to manage the KSA
Heera office. Absconding?
18. Where is Ismail Shaikh? How can they simply wash their hands off this
crime by stating that he is not a part of Heera GoC when we have tons of videos
showing him to be involved in each and every part of Heera GoC, standing next
to his sister, Nowhera Shaikh?
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Who is Nowhera Shaikh? Is Heera Gold real or fake? Nowhera Shaikh is a self-proclaimed Islamic Scholar who addresses herself as a doctor and is responsible for the luring more than 1,72,000 Muslims to invest in her Ponzi schemes floated under the banner Heera Gold. There have been more than 30 FIRs registered against her and the promoters of Heera Gold, and authorities investigating her cases have stated her business modules to be on the lines of Ponzi. She has spent more than 2 years in jail and is currently out on Interim Bail and the Supreme Court of India has ordered her to settle all dues or face jail again. As of December 2021.
