A shocking fraud case has been discovered at a well-known Tanishq showroom in Pune, involving the unethical practice of selling low-priced diamonds at inflated prices. The incident came to light when a 46-year-old woman from Loni Kalbhor filed a complaint with the Vishrambaug Police Station, stating that she had been deceived and lost a substantial amount of Rs 3.48 crore.
The Pune Police's Economic Offenses Wing (EoW) acted promptly, arresting several employees, including the chief salesman, and levying charges against others, including the showroom manager, cashier, business manager, and owner.
The person who filed the complaint is the owner of a petrol pump and other businesses. They had been a faithful customer of the Tanishq showroom on Lakshmi Road since December 2018. Throughout this period, they had bought diamond jewellery worth Rs 4.19 crore from the showroom. However, during their recent visit in January 2023 to exchange the jewellery, they discovered discrepancies and tried to discuss the matter with the staff. Regrettably, the staff was uncooperative, and their subsequent attempts to reach out to the showroom were ignored.
To verify her suspicions, the woman chose to visit a different Tanishq showroom, and what she found was truly shocking. It was uncovered that the diamonds she had bought were of much lower quality than what was promised, and she had been charged exorbitant amounts for them.
. The fraudsters went to the extent of creating counterfeit invoices, including Tanishq's logo, and offering deceptive discounts, leading to a staggering loss of ₹3.48 crore, which far exceeded the actual value of the jewellery.
The Pune Police's Economic Offenses Wing acted swiftly and initiated a thorough investigation into the incident. They promptly arrested several individuals, including the chief salesman named Chetan Vispute, as well as Sangeeta Mahajan, Tejal Pawar, Amol Mohite, Sagar Dhonde, Chandan Gupta, Dhawal Mehta, and the owner of the showroom, Hitesh Punamia. The accused individuals, who are believed to be involved in this fraudulent scheme, have been formally charged.