PMLA court issues production warrant against hawala operator

MUMBAI: A special PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) court has issued a production warrant against Alpesh Khara, a hawala operator from Charni Road, arrested in connection with the alleged fraud Ponzi scheme run through Torres Jewellery stores, in which thousands of investors were duped of crores of rupees.

Acting on a plea filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), special judge AC Daga passed the order on Friday, directing the superintendent of Arthur Road Jail, where Khara is lodged, to produce him before the court on March 17.

The court said that the accused is required for the purpose of investigation by the ED and issued a production warrant under section 302 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) 2023 and section 65 of the PMLA, 2002. Under section 302 of the BNSS, a criminal court has the power to order the production of a prisoner to face charges.

The court order came on an application filed by the ED, seeking production of Khara, who is currently under judicial custody, in the FIR registered by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai police. Earlier, in February, the court had allowed the ED to record the statements of Khara along with arrested three top executives of Torres Jewellery - Tazagul Xasatova, Valentina Kumar and Sarvesh Ashok Surve.

As per the EOW, Khara, a hawala operator, allegedly facilitated the illicit transfers that were used to set up the jewellery store chain in Mumbai Metropolitan Region.

The multi-crore fraud came to light on January 6, when thousands of investors started protesting outside various stores of the Torres Jewellery brand in and around Mumbai, after being cheated of returns on their investments.

The investors were allegedly lured to invest in schemes that promised huge weekly returns on the purchase of gold, jewellery and moissanite stones. The EOW of the Mumbai police have so far arrested 10 people in connection with the case, with all of them currently in judicial custody. The main accused in the case allegedly transferred more than ₹200 crore outside India through USDT, a cryptocurrency.

Apart from the 10 arrests, the EOW has issued Lookout Circulars and Blue-Corner Notices for several Ukranian nationals and a Turkish national, the alleged masterminds of the Torres scam, who are believed to have fled the country.