Mumbai:
A jewelry chain with a number of shops in Mumbai has allegedly duped lots of by a Ponzi scheme promising excessive returns. Torres jewelry has, nevertheless, shifted the blame to its CEO and different workers members, alleging that they conned prospects by a fraudulent scheme and likewise robbed and vandalised shops a part of the chain.
Torres has six shops in and round Mumbai. Since yesterday, lots of have reached its Dadar retailer to demand their a refund. Police have registered a case and named the holding agency Platinum Hern Non-public Restricted, its two administrators, CEO, normal supervisor and a retailer in-charge as accused. The accused have been charged with dishonest and felony conspiracy, amongst others.
Torres Firm ponzi scheme dupes individuals promising 25% month-to-month; traders protest exterior Torres Jewelry’s workplace over unpaid returns; firm factors fingers at CEO@AnujRayate stories pic.twitter.com/Z5y6hYJHic
— NDTV (@ndtv) January 7, 2025
What Was The Scheme
The retailers opened in February final yr at six places in and round Mumbai. They offered gemstone jewelry and likewise provided a bonus scheme. Beneath this scheme, a buyer who invested Rs 1 lakh would get a pendant with a moissanite stone value Rs 10,000. These stones, the purchasers have now realised, have been pretend. Prospects have been additionally promised 6 per cent curiosity on their funding to be paid out throughout 52 weeks. This rate of interest climbed to 11 per cent. Prospects stated they obtained some payouts over the previous yr, however they stopped about two months again.
The Bumper Draw
About seven days again, Torres posted a video on YouTube saying that it’s going to present 11 per cent curiosity on investments made earlier than January 5, after which the speed will dip. The corporate inspired money funds by providing 0.5 per cent further curiosity. The transfer aimed to attract a flood of investments. On January 6, the shops have been shut because the traders realised that they had been scammed.
The Buyers
The majority of those traders are from the decrease center class and embrace vegetable sellers and small merchants who have been lured by the promise of huge returns on their investments. The quantity invested beneath this scheme ranges from just a few thousand rupees to crores. The seven individuals who filed the police criticism have stated that they had invested over Rs 13 crore between them.
One of many traders NDTV spoke to stated her buddies informed her concerning the scheme. “We did get some payouts. We wish to ask the federal government, it obtained tax. So why is it not serving to us now?”
One other investor stated she will not depart Torres’ Dadar workplace until she will get her a refund. “It’s my hard-earned cash. I deposited the cash on Sunday after which this occurred. This enterprise ran for eight-nine months, the place was the federal government? Police are calling us loopy, the place have been all of them this time?”
Requested what made him belief the scheme, an investor stated the brochure had the corporate’s GST quantity and CIN quantity. “I believed it’s so systematic, so the federal government is conscious of this. I request the federal government, we do not need curiosity, however give us our a refund.”
Firm Claims Coup
Amid traders’ frustration concerning their misplaced cash, Torres’ official YouTube account has uploaded a video, claiming that its CEO led a coup and facilitated theft on the firm’s showrooms. “Beneath the management of two Torres workers, CEO Tausif Reyaz and Chief Analyst Abhishek Gupta, a coup was organised within the crew tonight and Torres shops have been robbed,” the video’s voiceover says.
The video exhibits individuals vandalising shops and robbing cash. The voiceover described these individuals as “accomplices” of Reyaz and Gupta.
“Earlier, we learnt that they organised a fraudulent scheme and systematically appropriated the corporate’s cash for a lot of months… Realising that punishment was inevitable for them, they determined to contain different workers of their crime,” it added.
CCTV visuals, it stated, present about 100 individuals breaking jewelry instances, opening safes and stealing cash. Torres stated they’ve already handed over the proof to police.
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