Most of the Nizam's wealth has been either smuggled or mortgaged. The last Nizam of Hyderabad, Mir Osman Ali Khan, was considered one among the richest in the world. Inquiries into the royal family's assets show that after Nizam's era, most of their inheritance that comprised a fleet of cars, weapons, ammunition, jewelery and thousands of other rare artifacts collected from across the globe, have mysteriously disappeared from the palaces and museums of Hyderabad over the time, leaving the city with little historic wealth to talk about.

For the past three decades, though reports have been heard about missing of several artifacts and valuables from the museums of Hyderabad, nothing concrete has been done either to trace them or to arrest recurrence of such incidents. For example, about three decades ago a police case was filed by the kin of Nizam about smuggling of two gold mohurs (Gold Coins) out side the country. The coins were said to have made their way in to the vault of some foreign bank. Though on insistence of the kin in 2005, CBI is said to have taken up the investigation, but nothing has come out of it so far. While there is no official account of the missing antiques and how these were moved out of high security premises, sources allege that most of them, worth a fortune, have been shipped away to antique dealers operating in cities like Mumbai and Delhi. There is also speculation that a good chunk of the Nizam's assets have been mortgaged by the kith and kin of the royal household to support their lavish lifestyles.

Now, Hasan Ali Khan, who is facing charges of money laundering and stacking away $8 billion in Swiss Banks made some startling revelations. During interrogations by the ED, Hasan Ali confessed that he has been smuggling out royal antiques and jewelery from the city. Two of his accomplices from Hyderabad, who are since in custody along with him, are Nasir Baig and Ram Bharoz Gupta. It is learnt that Baig is the nephew (brother's son) of the last Nizam's fourth wife, Iqbal Begum. The Nizam's extended family alleges that Baig has been selling royal property for several years and only recently attempted to sell a piece of land around the Nizam's palace in Mahabaleshwar. In fact, Hasan Ali has named Baig as the GPA of the Nizam's property. Ali also mentioned Gupta's name to interrogators (said he purchased artifacts from him) who owns a jewelery shop in Basheerbagh and lives in Banjara Hills. Gupta is named as a buyer of antiques from Hasan Ali in the FIR. But besides these dealers, sources also blame the kith and kin of the Nizam's family who have sold or mortgaged their ancestral property to raise funds for themselves. It is high time the government take up the issue seriously and do something to stop further erosion of Nizam's heritage through smugglers and lavish spending kith and kin.