Shoeb Siddiqi

Most of the Muslims who invested were lured in these companies by the known clerics or Islamic Speakers, who were paid handsomely to endorse and promote these schemes and also sermonize about it from the mosques.

Muslim investors in India are the gullible target of Halal-Investment and Shariah-compliant schemes. For the last one year over 10 companies in India were either shut down or duped the investors.

Most of these Shariah or Halal investment companies use the religious rulings of Interest being prohibited in Islam and lure Muslim investors in schemes by promising high returns, while India does not recognize Islamic Banking system. 

Many financial experts and websites have referred these schemes as Ponzi Schemes, which generates returns for early investors by acquiring new investors. This is similar to the pattern of pyramid scheme which is based on using new investors funds to pay the earlier backers. 

Recent cases of Heera Group from Hyderabad and IMA Jewels from Benagluru have exposed scams of nearly 50,000 Crores.

Ms Nowhera Shaikh of Heera Group was arrested by Hyderabad police and is being probed by many agencies after FIRs were filed against her for not paying the promised returns And withholding the investments.

Mohammed Mansoor Khan of IMA fled from Bengaluru overnight, but he was arrested at Delhi Airport after his voluntary return from Dubai on July 19. Both of them had political interests, while Nowhera Shaikh founded her own political party called “All India Mahila Empowerment Party” (MEP) and contested on all seats in Karnataka Assembly elections. Mansoor Khan shared good relations with Former Karnataka Minister Roshan Baig who was taken into custody for questioning.

Nowhera Shaikh always seen in her Hijab and Mansoor Khan donning a cap and beard, were accompanied by Muslim clerics, leaders, community members who attended events and publicly endorsed them, some of the events of Heera group were even attended by celebs like Arbaaz Khan, Sunil Shetty , Sania Mirza etc. Nowhera Shaikh photoshopped herself with Ex-Foreign Minister of India Shushma Swaraj and also with the princess of Dubai Shaikha Hend Faisal Al Qassimi.

But now, Heera Group victims have demanded the arrest of clerics, politicians and scores of Bollywood actors who misled the investors, Central Crime Station (CCS) of Hyderabad is likely to serve notices to celebrities who promoted Heera group.

In the meanwhile in Bengaluru, a school owner Umar Shariff, and a cleric from local mosque were recently arrested in connection who were allegedly paid by IMA in crores to promote and endorse IMA Jewels.

In a separate case in Hyderabad a FIR was filed against Universal Islamic Research Center’s lead preacher Siraj-ur-Rahman and his wife Bushra for allegedly duping their followers in the name of Halaal Investments and “double returns”.

Besides Heera Group and IMA Jewels there were several other companies like Morgenall , Ambidant, Burraqh Group etc, who duped Muslims, all in the name of Islam.

Most of the Muslims who invested were lured in these companies by the known clerics or Islamic Speakers, who were paid handsomely to endorse and promote these schemes and also sermonize about it from the mosques.

Muslim community in India which is already economically weak is being backstabbed by their own “Scholars/Islamic Speakers” in the name of financially uplifting the community, these incidents of Shairah compliant schemes has resulted in much loss to the community, one such investor died of heart attack in Bengaluru after the IMA Scam.

In order to curb the menace of Ponzi schemes, the Union Cabinet gave its approval to the Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Bill, 2019. During the session Imtiaz Jaleel, the newly elected AIMIM MP from Aurangabad, raised concerns about the investors of these Ponzi schemes and the alleged scam of over ₹50,000 Crore by Heera Group and IMA Jewels only.

He ended it with a realistic note that people should understand that “there is no shortcut to money”.

Disclaimer: Views expressed by writers in this section are their own and do not reflect Milli Chronicle’s point-of-view.

45-years-old CEO of Heera Group – Nowhera Shaikh – popularly known as ‘Aapa’ was expected to be released on Thursday after the court granted her conditional bail.

According to her lawyer – Vineeth Dhanda – they had been eagerly waiting to receive her since 4:30pm, but did not find her, while the prison authorities claimed her release.

Speaking to IB 24X7, Dhanda said, “we have spoken to prison people, they said, they have released Dr. Nowhera Shaikh, but she did not come out.”

“I am going to file habeas corpus against the prison authorities”, he added.

He alleged that prison authorities transferred her to another prison.

“Once a person is released on bail, prison transfer cannot take place, and that is contempt of court,” he said.

Mrs. Shaikh was arrested on Tuesday on the charges of allegedly cheating the investors. However, the court granted her conditional bail to return investors’ money.

But her mysterious missing has started making the investors more anxious.

45-years-old – Dr. Nowhera Shaik also known as ‘Aapa’ – CEO of Heera Group and President of All India Mahila Empowerment Party, was arrested on a transit warrant when she was escaping India from Delhi.

Hyderabad city police commissioner Anjani Kumar held a press conference on Tuesday, and said, “during investigation evidence of diversion of funds have come to light. Evidence has also been found of purchase of assets in different names of Individuals as well as companies.”

“Many Investors have not been paid their dues since last few months by accused companies The companies and other accused have not cooperated with the police or provided relevant information during the course of the investigation. The main accused also made efforts to mislead the police and avoid the investigation,” he added.

Mrs. Shaik promised 35 percent annual returns on the investments. She also promised to reform the Muslim economy to make it completely ‘interest-free’.

She failed to fulfill her promises and kept dodging the investors.

The Group has received the life-time savings of thousands of retirees, widows and single-mothers, as investments.

A distressed widow in Hyderabad said, “my house rent is Rs.11000, and Aapa (Shaik) has been delaying payments for the past three months. The house owner will kick us out.”

Some of the investors express extreme anger over the ‘promoters’ who certified the business as Halaal, which urged them to invest crores of their savings.

Thousands of investors, who sold their real-estate, were taken a back after the news of her arrest broke.

Her critics allegedly blame her for spending the investments in launching her party – MEP, renting Bollywood actors for her promotional events, and sponsoring cricket tournaments in Sharjah-UAE.

According to a report by GulfNews, UAE-based investors are in deep-trouble after her arrest has been announced by Hyderabad Police in a press-conference on Tuesday afternoon.

An investor who works in Dubai told media that he fears he had become an unwitting victim of an elaborate Ponzi scheme.

“I lost Dh200,000. It was all I had. I am ruined,” he wept.

“They told us they will invest our money in gold and textile and give us monthly profits. I joined them sometime back by investing Dh100,000. Initially they paid me around Dh3,000 monthly but soon the payments dried out,” another investor said.

An Abu-Dhabi based NRI said he is worried about the Dh500,000 he invested with Heera Gold’s Jumeirah Lake Towers office.

They have demanded strict legal action to be taken against Mrs. Shaik.

“We have no other option but to fight legally,” said a Dubai-based Indian businessman.

Last month, market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) clarified that the activities of Heera Gold were Ponzi.