In today’s world, where the biggest scam or fraud cases are registered against prominent business tycoons, people’s credibility and the authenticity of the country’s established institutions are being questioned before the judicial system to prove their worth of owned assets.
The people of Hyderabad are demanding accountability and questioning the credibility of the concerned authorities, while those nefarious entrepreneurs/industrialists are ambiguously released with charges against them dropped, and the constitution of India allowing them the special status to travel anywhere. Thus, they enjoy their life without any fear of getting caught by law enforcement bodies.
Ironically, this year, a few government and private sectors of India have been found guilty of fraud, cheating, and money laundering. A piece of recent news which grabbed the attention of several media news channels and stirred confusion among the people was the PMC (Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative Bank) and the Heera Gold group of companies fraud. In this article, we would be discussing what exactly is happening around the country, unearthing proofs to find the strongest evidence behind the sudden shutting down of money-making machinery. We are determined to figure out the responsibility of the RBI (Reserve Bank of India) in protecting and securing the legal rights of the different firms in detail.
The Heera Group of companies is one of those entities, which became famous overnight for its mismanagement of funds invested in gold schemes. Many investors and depositors raised the complaint. Nowhera Shaik had been in the limelight for the past one year in local newspapers, magazine front pages, and on television debate. She was the company’s leading lady and the owner of this huge enterprise; she faced massive criticism, humiliation, and betrayal from her organization’s supporting staff and few other local community members. Several stakeholders accused her of misusing the numerous accounts belonging to them. They were assertive of the company’s botched operations that had defaulted to pay them the invested amount promised to every lender in return. The company had promised about a 36% return on investment compared to a 6.1% interest rate offered by normal Indian banks for a deposit of one lakh rupees.
The Hyderabad Police officials, in collaboration with other investigating departments, arrested Nowhera Shaikh on October 17, 2018. Hence, the hardships began. Till now, it has been reported that a whopping ₹5647 crores have been pumped in for Heera Group of companies from India and foreign countries with 1.75 lakh registered depositors. The worst nightmare happened when Nowhera Shaik decided to enter politics. Unfortunately, she lost the battle without even winning a single seat from her home town. Despite the defeat, she has decided to make a second attempt in the upcoming 2019 Hyderabad 119-seat state election.
This time she has pledged to fight tirelessly for the rights of women and their safety, and the welfare of children. In spite of all her efforts to overcome poverty and bring justice among the deprived communities, her intentions were purposely suppressed by her party workers as they accused her of camaraderie with the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP). They accused her of contesting the election to favour them.
Innumerable allegations surfaced in the media to defame Nowhera Shaikh and her company Heera Gold. Many top-notch investigations were carried out in this crucial matters for more than a year, monitored by the special CID officers, Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), Enforcement Directorate (ED), and the Commissioner of Police, Hyderabad. It has not yet been proved with any concrete evidence that the fingers raised at her by the petitioners in the High court of Hyderabad are justified. There’s no conclusive evidence that could prove she deserves to be behind bars and sentenced to life imprisonment.
It is to be noted that back in March this year, the RBI had canceled the licenses of over 1701 Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFC). Under the flagship of Heera Gold, there were about 15 other companies registered with the Registrar of Companies (RoC), but none of them had full-time authority to run the business from both the governing figures of all-time RBI and SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India). The question that arises in the minds of many citizens is, when would the central government and the RBI, in particular, take precautionary rather preliminary steps to control the unethical practices of big shot corporates who are ruining India’s economy? At the end of the day, these people are responsible for the devastating economic conditions when thousands and lakhs of workers are risking their jobs and staying unemployed for days, months or years on end!