Torres scam: Shivaji Park police did nothing despite knowing about it in June

The Rs 1000crore Torres scam could have been prevented if Mumbai police had acted on early warnings flagged by Shivaji Park police station Despite suspicious activities being identified in June 2024 followed by notices from Navi Mumbai Policersquos Economic Offences Wing EOW in October no action was taken allowing the fraud to escalate and dupe thousands over six monthsAssistant Police Inspector API Vinay Mane of Shivaji Park police station confirmed to midday that he issued a notice to Torres company directors on June 29 after observing suspicious activities during routine patrolling ldquoI informed my superiors and was asked to issue a notice I have no idea what happened after thatrdquo Mane saidPosters uploaded on social media by Torres announcing cash prizeThe Navi Mumbai police also issued a notice to Torres on October 24 followed by another from the Income Tax Department on November 14 Copies of these notices were submitted by Tausif Reyaz a wanted accused and selfproclaimed whistleblower in his complaint to multiple agencies including the Mumbai police commissioner and the CBI Reyaz alleged the inaction enabled the scam to grow unchecked with several foreign nationals involved fleeing the countryldquoIt has come to our notice that your company attracts customers by promising high returns on investments in jewellery made from Moissanite American Diamond claiming they yield better profits than traditional jewelleryrdquo read the October 24 notice from Navi Mumbai policersquos EOW The notice asked the company to present business documents by October 28 at the commissionerrsquos officeSarvesh Surve the company director arrested by the cops PicsAshish RajeThe scam came to light when angry investors visited Torresrsquo Dadar office earlier this week only to find its directors had fled Shivaji Park police have since arrested three suspects including two foreign nationals and the case has been transferred to the EOW which suspects the fraud exceeds Rs 1000 croreHow scam startedReyaz claims the scam began in February 2023 orchestrated by Ukrainian nationals Oleksandra Tverdokhlib Oleksandr Borovyk Olena Staion and Oleksandr Zapichenko who partnered with a consultant named Armen They launched a company Platinum Hern Private Limited using Indian directors as fronts while they operated as silent partnersThe first Torres showroom opened in February 2024 attracting customers through an MLMstyle cashback scheme promising weekly returns and referral bonuses Daily seminars marketed the scheme expanding the customer base Reyaz alleges the group smuggled gold and silver without documentation sold overpriced jewellery and transferred Rs 200 crore abroad using cryptocurrencyPradeep Vaishya investor shows diamond given by the companyReyaz also accused the group of coercing him and his colleague into signing fraudulent loan documents under threats of violence He claims his photograph was falsely circulated on social media identifying him as the companyrsquos CEO to mislead authorities and protect the masterminds Efforts to reach DCP Ganesh Gawade of Zone 5 for comments remained unanswered at the time of pressSearch conductedThe Economic Offences Wing EOW of the Mumbai police investigating the Torres scam conducted searches at the companyrsquos premises on Thursday During the operation they seized various investment documents cash promotional pamphlets and stones from the storeInvestors outside Shivaji Park police station on ThursdayldquoThis appears to be a Ponzi scheme combined with a multilevel marketing scam that lured people with lucrative schemes We are doing our best to protect the interests of the investors A dedicated cell has been set up at the Shivaji Park police station where investors can register their complaintsrdquo said Sangramsinh Nishandar DCP EOWTorres on their official Instagram page claimed that they had provided all necessary details about the company including its operations and business activities after receiving the notice from the Shivaji Park police station in July following the notice from the police station in June 2024Torres blames CEO and CAIn a press release Torres accused Reyaz alias John and Gupta of damaging the companyrsquos reputation The statement alleged that Gupta forced the company to pay Rs 25 lakh and later Rs 40 lakh claiming it was to settle the matter with the IT DepartmentInvestors gathered outside the Torres Jewellery store in DadarldquoGupta who was handling the IT inquiry used the name of Deputy Commissioner Neeraj and extorted money from us Then he John and Sarvesh Surve turned around and reported Torres to the same officer pretending to be whistleblowersrdquo the press note claimed Torres further alleged that Gupta and Reyaz began demanding large sums of money after October 24 to ldquosettlerdquo issues with the authoritiesThe company also dismissed claims by Gupta John and Surve that they are whistleblowers ldquoIn June last year we noticed suspicious behaviour by the company and requested them to produce their documents However the company never disclosed anything about their fraudulent schemes An ACPlevel inquiry has now been initiated to investigate what actions were takenrdquo a DCP rank officer told midday Apoorva Agashe