How the Torres scam was built: EOW files massive charge sheet

The Economic Offences Wing EOW has filed a charge sheet exceeding 27000 pages in the Torres scam naming seven accused individuals and a firm The charge sheet states that the operation was a wellorchestrated Ponzi scheme where investors were lured with promises of high returns through the purchase of lowquality moissanite gemstones The charge sheet states that investors were also lured into buying moissanitebased silver and gold jewelleryAccording to the EOW the stones were sourced from Rajasthan and were actually lsquolowquality artificial Maisonettersquo bought for just Rs 350 to Rs 500 and sold for as much as Rs 8000 From 2023 to January 2025 stones worth Rs 20 crore were purchased from the Rajasthanbased supplier The charge sheet outlines the role of each accused in the scamFrom top left Tausif Riyaz alias John Carter whistlebloweraccused Olena Stoian alleged mastermind of scam who is absconding Oleksandra Brunkivska one of the absconding accused Armen Ataian Ukrainian national and a known actor in his country Victoriia Kovalenko Ukrainian national who is on the run A Ukrainian national living in city for several years key figure in scamOne of them Tausif Riyaz alias John Cartermdashwho had claimed to be a whistleblowermdashhas also been chargesheeted Investigators allege he played a key role in assisting foreign nationals in setting up the scheme in Mumbai and its outskirts The EOW has claimed that the scam was of Rs 14258 crore so far since only 14000 investors have approached them It was expected that more than one lakh people had invested in Torres and initially it was suspected that the scam could be worth more than Rs 1000 croreThe accused and their rolesTausif Riyaz alias John CarterAccording to the charge sheet he played a crucial role in helping foreign nationals establish Torres operations in Mumbai Meetings to discuss the scam reportedly began in February 2023 with wanted Ukrainian national and alleged mastermind Olena Stoian along with another accused named Alex Riyaz facilitated their plans by connecting them with CA Abhishek Gupta a key witness in the case He also helped procure PAN and Aadhaar cards for company registration and was appointed CEO of Platinum Hern Pvt Ltd Additionally Riyaz assisted in securing rental properties for Torres jewellery showrooms across Mumbai Navi Mumbai and KalyanTania alias Tazgul XastovaA Ukrainian national residing in Mumbai for several years Tania was caught in a fake passport case by Sahar police in 2008 In the Torres operation she served as the regional manager overseeing showroom operations and staff recruitment EOW investigations revealed that she was caught with R68 lakh in cash during the state Assembly elections in November 2024 by the Election Commission Following her arrest over R77 lakh was seized from her residence along with R13 lakh in cash from her personal belongings She is considered a key figure in managing Torresrsquo India operations alongside mastermind Olena StoianValentina Ganesh KumarA 44yearold Russianborn woman who has been living in India for 20 years Valentina is married to an Indian and has an 11yearold daughter She worked closely with Tania and played an active role in promoting the Ponzi scheme According to the EOW Valentina gave investment lectures at Torres seminars About R13 lakh in cash was also recovered from her during searches She has approached the high court seeking quashing of the FIR claiming she was merely an employee with no knowledge of the scamSarvesh Ashok SurveListed as a director in the company Surve initially claimed to be a mere employee and posed as a whistleblower However the charge sheet highlights his active involvement in the scam alongside foreign nationals and RiyazArmen AtaianA Ukrainian national and a known actor in his country Armen was arrested after his role surfaced in connecting the foreign nationals with Riyaz He also allegedly procured a fake birth certificate from the BMC for which a separate case has been registered at Bhoiwada police station He was arrested from Madh where he was living with two Russian nationals also involved in the scam and working as extras in filmsValentina Ganesh Kumar a Russianborn woman claims she was a mere employeeAlpesh KharaBelieved to be a hawala operator he allegedly played a critical role in facilitating financial transactions for the foreign nationals involved in the scam The EOW found that the accused frequently visited his jewellery store indicating his deep involvementLallan SinghAccording to the EOW Lallan Singh provided seed capital to Torres through a network of shell companies These funds were instrumental in setting up Platinum Hern Pvt Ltd the firm under which Torres operated in India He has a history of criminal cases including cheating and is also under investigation by the Enforcement Directorate ED The ED found that his companies provided R138 crore as initial fundingThe absconding accused namedThe charge sheet also names 10 absconding foreign nationalsmdashprimarily from Russia Ukraine and Turkey They have been identified asgtgt Victoriia Kovalenkogtgt Olena Stoian the mastermindgtgt Imran Javedgtgt Mustafa Karakocgtgt Oleksandra Borovykgtgt Oleksandr Zapichenkogtgt Oleksandra Brunkivskagtgt Oleksandr Tredokhibgtgt Artem Oliferchukgtgt Lurchenko Igor