3 Torres executives, including 2 foreigners, held in multi-crore jewellery fraud

MUMBAI: Police have made three key arrests and are looking for two other suspects in the multi-crore Torres Jewellers’ fraud that is still unraveling across it six branches in and around Mumbai. Police suspect that the company, which had floated various fraudulent investment schemes, has scammed an estimated 1.25 lakh investors of a staggering ₹1,000 crore.

Shivaji Park police have arrested Sarvesh Ashok Surve, director of Platinum Hern Pvt Ltd, which owns the brand ‘Torres Jewellery’; its general manager Tania Kasatova aka Tazgul Karaxanova Xasatova, an Uzbek national; and its stores in-charge Valentina Ganesh Kumar, a Russian woman married to an Indian national.

They are searching for company CEO Taufik Riyaz aka John Carter, and director Viktoriia Kovalenko, who too have been named in the First Information report (FIR). Police said that Riyaz and Kovalenko, both Ukranian nationals, had floated the company, and look-out circulars have been issued to prevent them from fleeing the country.

Police arrested the three suspects as they acted swiftly as soon as investors in Torres’s fraudulent schemes started assembling outside the Dadar store on Monday, to demand money they had been promised. As news of the fraud spread like wildfire, and as the crowd of panicky investors outside the store swelled, police nabbed the three store executives from the premises.

“Surve has told us he is an Aaadhar card operator from Dongri. He was asked for his documents to help register the company and was made a director. He was paid ₹25,000 per month. He claimed he was a director only on paper,” said the police officer.

Police also said that Torres Jewellers and its parent company Platinum Hern Private Limited have attempted to mislead them by tampering with CCTV footage at some of its stores. The footage suggests that its employees had vandalised its stores and they had tried to register offences against them. Torres is now telling investors to register a case only against Riyaz, Surve and their chartered accountant and that they will soon start returning their money.

Police have seized bank accounts and lockers of the store, which has six branches – at Dadar, Grant Road, Mira Road, Sanpada in Navi Mumbai, Kalyan, Kandivali. The Kandivali store had only recently opened and angry investors smashed glass panes at the showroom on Tuesday. Kandivali police have registered a case against three persons.

The three arrested accused in the Torres Jewellery fraud were produced before a special MPID (Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors Act, 1999) court on Tuesday and were remanded to police custody up to January 13. The advocate for general manager Tania Kasatova claimed in court that his client was merely an interpreter for the promoters of the company. He said that Kasatova is an Uzbek national and claimed she had no role to play in the alleged crime.

The advocate for Valentino Kumar said she is from Russia and is married to an Indian national, Ganesh Kumar. He claimed she worked as a translator in Platinum Hern Pvt Ltd and is not connected to the company management. Torres’s director Survesh Ashok Surve was not represented by any advocate.

Meanwhile, Navghar police in Bhayander West have also registered a case against four executives of a Torres Jewellery store in Goddev Gaon in Mira Road East, for allegedly cheating at least 25 investors to the tune of ₹68.12 lakh. Officers said they have registered an FIR based on a complaint lodged by Kafil Usmani (44), a tailor by profession, and have launched a manhunt for the accused.

“We have recorded the statements of 25 people who had invested or had attended a seminar at the company’s showroom. More people who have been cheated are expected to come forward,” said an officer with the Navghar police.

The APMC police in Navi Mumbai too have registered a similar case against the jewellery store chain. Police officials said that, so far, they have received complaints from 25 people, who said they have been defrauded of over ₹2 crore. The case is being transferred to the Economic Offences Wing for further investigation.