Torres Jewellery Scam: A ₹1,000 Cr Ponzi Scheme That Duped 1.25 Lakh Investors
A massive Ponzi scheme by Torres Jewellery has left 1.25 lakh investors in distress, with losses exceeding ₹1,000 crore
Mumbai, India, Torres Jewellery, Ponzi Scheme, Fraud, Investors
Mumbai: So, there’s this wild story about Torres Jewellery, a chain with six stores in the city. They’ve allegedly pulled off a massive scam, tricking around 1.25 lakh investors out of over ₹1,000 crore. They promised big returns but ended up running a Ponzi scheme instead. Can you believe it?
The company is now pointing fingers at its CEO and some employees, claiming they were the ones behind the fraud. They even said these folks vandalized their stores. Talk about a mess!
The Mumbai police have jumped in, filing a case against the holding company, Platinum Hern Private Limited, and a bunch of its directors and managers. They’re facing serious charges like cheating and criminal conspiracy. It’s getting intense!
Here’s how the scam worked: Torres Jewellery opened its doors in February last year, selling gemstone jewellery. They had this bonus scheme to lure in investors. If you put in ₹1 lakh, they’d give you a pendant worth ₹10,000. But guess what? They told customers the stones were fake. What a letdown!
They also had this referral bonus thing going on, encouraging people to bring in more customers. They promised weekly payouts starting at 7% interest, which later shot up to 11%. At first, they actually paid out, but then, just two weeks ago, the payments stopped. Yikes!
Recently, Torres even posted a video on YouTube, saying that investments made before January 5 would still earn 11% interest. But after that date? Not so much. They also dangled an extra 0.5% interest for cash payments to get more people to invest. But then, on January 6, all their stores shut down. Talk about a cliffhanger!
Most of the investors are from lower-middle-class backgrounds, like vegetable sellers and small traders. They were drawn in by the promise of easy money, investing everything from a few thousand to crores. Just yesterday, a crowd of them gathered at the Dadar store, demanding their money back. It’s heartbreaking!
Three people have been arrested in connection with this fraud, but the main culprits, two Ukrainians, have fled to Ukraine. Lookout Circulars have been issued for them. The Economic Offenses Wing is on the case, and they’ve filed an FIR under the Maharashtra Protection of Depositors Act. It’s serious business!
In response to all this chaos, Torres Jewellery is claiming that rogue employees were to blame for the fraud and the store closures. They’ve even said they’ll be back in business soon and will start making bonus payments again. But can they really be trusted?
While Torres tries to clean up its image, the police are digging deeper to find out just how big this fraud really is. Investors are left waiting, hoping to get their hard-earned money back. What a rollercoaster!