Torres fraud: Charge sheet names 8 accused, 11 wanted accused | Mumbai news

MUMBAI: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police on Monday filed a 27,147-page charge sheet in the multi-crore Torres Jewellery fraud case. Police have named eight accused and 11 more accused as wanted, including eight Ukranian nationals, one Turkish national and two Indians.

“We have filed the charge sheet in 69 days. We have named the parent company Platinum Hern Pvt Ltd, which owned the Torres Jewellery brand, as an accused. We have also named the company’s general manager Tania alias Tazagul Xastova; a Russian-born employee Valentina Ganesh Kumar; director Sarvesh Surve; chief executive officer Tausif Riyaz; hawala operators Alpesh Khara and Lallan Singh; and actor Armeen Ataian,” said a police officer from EOW.

According to the chargesheet, Lallan Singh was responsible for laundering money through various financial institutions. Investigations indicate that ₹13.78 crore of unaccounted money was laundered and later used to establish the operations of Torres Jewellery in Mumbai.

The fraud surfaced on January 6, 2025, when investors learnt that the Ukranians who ran the Torres Jewellery stores had fled the country with their money. Soon, the Shivaji Park police in Dadar, where the Torres flagship store was located, the Navghar police in Bhayandar, APMC Police in Navi Mumbai, and Rabodi police in Thane registered separate cases against the jewellery store chain, the holding company, its promoters and key managerial executives.

The case registered at the Shivaji Park police station was transferred to the EOW for investigation.

“In the chargesheet, we have shown eight Ukranians and a Turk as wanted accused in the case,” said the police officer. They are Olena Stoian, director of Platinum Hern; Viktoriia Kovalenko, also a director of Platinum Hern; Oleksandr Borovyk; Oleksandr Zapichenko; Oleksandra Brunkivska; Oleksandra Tredokhib; Artem Oliferchuk; Lurchenko Igor; and Mustafa Karakoc. “We are also searching for two Indians, whose first names are known to us only,” said the police officer.

Police have invoked various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 – Sections 316 (5) (criminal breach of trust by public servants, bankers, merchants, or agents), Section 317 (2) (dishonestly receiving stolen property), Section 317 (4) (dealing with stolen property), Section 317 (5) (assisting in concealing or disposing of stolen property), Section 318 (5) (cheating) and Section 61 (criminal conspiracy). They have also invoked various sections of the Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors (MPID) Act, 1999.

Police said in Mumbai, so far, they have received complaints from 14,157 investors in various schemes run by the Torres stores, claiming they have been defrauded to the tune of ₹142.58 crore.

Thane and the Navi-Mumbai police are investigating the cases registered at Navghar, Rabodi and APMC police stations separately.

EOW officials said they have also applied sections of the Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Act, 2019, which enables them to recover and return the property of investors, immediately, with the permission from the deputy collector.

Police said they have already seized properties, which include jewellery, cars and other valuables worth ₹32 crore in the case.

The chargesheet has named around 280 witnesses, which include employees and depositors. A key witness is chartered accountant, Abhishek Gupta, a whistleblower who sent e-mails to the EOW and Enforcement Directorate.

Gupta had audited the accounts of Platinum Hern Pvt Ltd and pointed out various discrepancies in the audits. “He later helped us investigate the case,” said an EOW official.

The Torres Jewellery scam, launched in February 2024, was an elaborate fraud that duped small investors after luring them to invest in various investment schemes floated by its chain of six stores in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Mira Road and Kalyan.

The investors were allegedly lured to invest in schemes that promised unbelievable weekly returns on the purchase of gold, jewellery and moissanite stones. The main accused in the case are alleged to have transferred more than ₹200 crore outside India through USDT, a cryptocurrency.