EOW Mumbai will probe all Torres fraud cases: State to HC

MUMBAI: The state government on Wednesday informed the Bombay high court that all four first information reports (FIRs) registered in connection with the alleged fraud perpetrated through Torres Jewellery stores will be transferred to the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Mumbai police. This was after the two-judge bench comprising justices Revati Mohite-Dere and Dr Neela Gokhale suggested that it would be better if one agency investigated all the FIRs and asked public prosecutor Hiten Venegaonkar and deputy commissioner of police Sangramsinh Nishandar, who attended the proceedings virtually, for their view.

After both agreed to the suggestion, the court said, “We take it from Mr Venegaonkar then that the matter will now be investigated by the Mumbai EOW.”

The statement was made while the court was hearing a petition filed by chartered accountant Abhishek Gupta, who was an external auditor for Platinum Hern Pvt Ltd, Torres’ parent company. Gupta claims to be a whistleblower in the case and has sought police protection owing to threats from perpetrators of the fraud.

According to the police, the Torres jewellery chain operated six stores across Mumbai and defrauded nearly 1.25 lakh people by luring them with 6% weekly returns on investments in lab-grown American diamonds. It was involved in money-laundering activities including the purchase of benami properties.

Venegaonkar, while answering a court query, said that all four FIRs related to the fraud were registered on January 6 – one each at Shivaji Park police station in Dadar, Navghar police station in Mulund, Rabodi police station in Thane and APMC police station in Vashi. Among these, the FIR registered at APMC police station had been transferred to EOW, Navi Mumbai while the Shivaji Park FIR had been transferred to EOW, Mumbai, the public prosecutor told the court.

The Navi Mumbai EOW, which has a financial intelligence unit, had come to know about fraud in October 2024, though complaints only started pouring in after payments to customers stopped in December 2024, he said. Eight of the 12 accused, including an Indian national, had flown out of India while the hawala operator, Alpesh Khara, had been arrested, Venegaonkar added.

The Rabodi police station FIR, wherein Gupta is named as accused, was registered after someone circulated his photo as a business analyst with Torres, said advocate Ranjit Sangle, appearing for the chartered accountant.