New Delhi [India], December 4 (ANI): In one of the first confiscations through the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act mechanism in Uttar Pradesh, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has received approval to confiscate movable and immovable assets worth Rs 127 crore belonging to fugitive Rashid Naseem and the Shine City Group of Companies.

The confiscation move comes after the agency designated Naseem as a Fugitive Economic Offender (FEO) for allegedly orchestrating large-scale financial fraud and cheating thousands of investors through Shine City's real estate and investment schemes. With Naseem absconding abroad to evade legal proceedings, the ED invoked FEOA provisions, enabling attachment and now full confiscation of his identified assets.

A special court in Uttar Pradesh's Lucknow issued the order on Wednesday, allowing ED to confiscate the properties in the case the agency initiated investigation against Naseem and Shine City Group of Companies on the basis of approximately 554 First Information Reports (FIRs) registered by Uttar Pradesh Police alleging large-scale fraud, cheating, and wrongful gain through ponzi-cum-pyramid schemes.

As per the agency, Naseem absconded from India to evade criminal investigation and prosecution and he escaped illegally via the Nepal border.

ED's investigation reveals that Naseem is residing in Dubai, UAE, and continues operating several aspects of the scheme from abroad.

A special court had declared Naseem a FEO under Section 12(1) of the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act (FEOA), 2018, on April 30, 2025, based on digital evidence proving that he had willfully evaded Indian authorities and was residing in the UAE and continuing his operations from abroad.

ED investigation mentions that Shine City Group had floated numerous companies and collected vast amounts of public deposits by falsely projecting investment opportunities in real estate projects and other lucrative schemes.

'Initial scrutiny revealed that the collected funds were neither utilized for legitimate business activities nor backed by genuine real-estate development but were siphoned off through a network of shell companies controlled by the promoters and their associates.'

In the course of the investigation, ED conducted search operations at 18 different premises, leading to the recovery of significant digital evidence, incriminating documents relating to money laundering, and extensive details of movable and immovable assets acquired from illicit proceeds.

Based on the evidence, ED has so far provisionally attached assets worth Rs 264.10 crore and arrested eight persons connected with the fraud.

Further, ED has filed six Prosecution Complaints (PCs) against 38 individuals and entities, all of which have been duly taken cognizance of by the special court in Lucknow.

The principal accused, Naseem, repeatedly refused to return to India to face the criminal process despite the issuance of summons, a Non-Bailable Warrant, a Look Out Circular (LOC), and an Interpol Red Notice.

Simultaneously, ED said, Naseem was found to be influencing victims from abroad to withdraw their FIRs by making fraudulent assurances through virtual meetings.

A crucial breakthrough occurred when ED obtained through intelligence sources, access to a Zoom meeting link circulated by Naseem via WhatsApp to victims. 'The virtual meetings were recorded, and his user ID, meeting ID, and login credentials were identified,' said the federal agency.

ED thereafter issued a summons to Zoom Communications, Inc., seeking all login details and IP addresses associated with the user account 'Rashid Naseem' used during the Zoom sessions.

Based on Zoom's cooperation and technical reports, ED said, the IP addresses used during the meetings were geo-located to the United Arab Emirates, conclusively establishing his presence in Dubai.

'This digital evidence proved that he had willfully evaded Indian authorities and was residing in the UAE and continuing his operations from abroad. Given the deliberate evasion, ED Lucknow Zone moved an application under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act (FEOA), 2018, seeking his declaration as a Fugitive Economic Offender,' mentioned the ED.

After examining the evidence, the Special Court (PMLA), Lucknow found that all statutory conditions under Section 4(2) of FEOA and Rule 3 of the FEOA Rules, 2018 were satisfied. The court held that Naseem left India to avoid arrest and criminal prosecution, and he refused to return despite the issuance of NBW, LOC, and Interpol alerts.

Accordingly, the court declared Naseem a FEO. Following the declaration, the court proceeded to consider ED's application under Section 12(2) of FEOA for confiscation of properties belonging to Naseem, his associates, and the companies controlled by them.

Parallel to these proceedings, ED's Lucknow zone had approached the Allahabad High Court and the special PMLA court Lucknow, seeking exercise of powers under Section 8(8), second proviso of PMLA, for restoration of attached properties to victims who had invested their hard-earned money in Shine City Group schemes.

Pursuant to ED's request, the special court issued a public proclamation inviting all legitimate victims to file claims with supporting documents.

To date, over 6,500 victims have submitted claims, and the ED is currently engaged in verification of these claims in a structured and time-bound manner. Although Shine City Group had challenged the restitution mechanism before the Supreme Court through a Special Leave Petition, the recent confiscation under FEOA significantly strengthens the restitution process. The property confiscated under FEOA now stands vested in the Central Government and thus provides a direct route for compensating victims through the realisation of the confiscated properties.

The recognition of legitimate claimants marks a significant step in ED Lucknow Zone's ongoing efforts to ensure that the Proceeds of Crime are eventually returned to thousands of affected investors, many of whom have suffered severe financial and emotional distress due to the fraudulent operations of Shine City Group.

ED said its Lucknow zone continues to uphold its commitment to combating financial crimes and ensuring justice for victims. (ANI)