An investigation by the Mumbai police Economic Offences Wing (EOW) has found that the two suspected Ukrainian masterminds of the Torres investment fraud case escaped the country in December 2024 after telling staffers and agents they were going on Christmas leave.
Director of Platinum Hern Pvt Ltd, which runs the Torres jewellery brand, Victoriia Kovalenko, and former director of the company, Olena Stoian, are suspected to be the brains behind the alleged investment fraud.
Mumbai police EOW are also checking if the same Ukrainian women were named in a similar mass fraud in Turkey a few years ago.
Meanwhile, the Navghar police in Bhayander have arrested three more people in a Torres Ponzi scheme case.
Lakshmi Yadav, who is accused of renting the office space at Ramdev Park on Mira Road, was arrested from Tardeo. Supervisor Nitit Lakhwani (47) and manager Kaiser Khalid Sheikh (52) have also been arrested. Both of them were working at the Ramdev Park branch.
Around Rs 26.20 lakh was seized from their accounts. A Thane court on Friday remanded the three to police custody for 5 days.
On Friday, the Mumbai EOW also concluded their two-day-long searches at six locations in Mumbai, leading to the seizure of cash around Rs 5 crore. Of this, Rs 77 lakh in cash was seized from the Colaba residence of Ukrainian national Taniya Xasatova, who is currently in police custody alongside Russian OCI Valentina Ganesh Kumar and director Sarvesh Surve.
Internal fight at Dadar store exposes Torres collapse
An EOW probe revealed that a heated argument over unpaid salaries on January 5 at Torres’ Dadar store led to a leak of financial irregularities. During the dispute, some officials disclosed that key executives, including CEO Tausif Reyaz, director Sarvesh Surve, and accountant Abhishek Gupta, had reported the company’s financial irregularities to authorities.
Angry staffers alerted close investors, who rushed to the store. Word spread, leading to around 600 investors gathering outside the store by evening. Police intervened, and an FIR was filed.
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