Interpol has issued Blue Corner Notices for nine foreign nationals in connection with a large-scale financial fraud involving Torres Jewellery. Authorities allege that over 100,000 investors were deceived out of ₹1,000 crore by being enticed with promises of weekly returns as high as 6% and the sale of fake gemstones. The notices target eight individuals from Ukraine and one from Turkey, believed to be central figures in the scam. A Blue Corner Notice is a request for Interpol member countries to assist in gathering information about the individuals' identities, whereabouts, or activities during a criminal investigation. Should formal charges be filed, Red Corner Notices may follow.
The individuals named include Olena Stoian, director of Platinum Hern Private Limited, the company behind Torres Jewellery; Viktoriia Kovalenko; Turkish national Mustafa Karakoc; and Ukrainians Oleksandr Borovyk, Oleksandr Zapichenko, Oleksandra Brunkivska, Oleksandra Tredokhib, Artem Oliferchuk, and Lurchenko Igor. Torres Jewellery operated six stores in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, with the flagship store located in Dadar.
Several key suspects have already been arrested by police, with assistance from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). These include Taniya Xasatova (also known as Tazagul Karaxanova Xasatova), the company’s general manager and a citizen of Uzbekistan; Sarvesh Surve, a director; Valentina Ganesh Kumar, a store manager of Russian origin; and Alpesh Khara, allegedly linked to hawala transactions.The scam began in February 2024, and the company saw a surge in investments during the holiday season when it promised returns as high as 11% per week. The Ukrainian masterminds of the Torres fraud are suspected to have sent Rs 200 crore abroad, as claimed in the emails sent by alleged whistleblowers to the police and other law enforcement agencies before the matter came to the public.
After the arrest of alleged hawala operator Khara, EOW officials have learned that after cash is collected from the investors from the six branches, two Ukrainian nationals along with wanted CEO of the company Mohammed Tausif Reyaz would take it to Grant Road office of Khara so that the same could be sent abroad via hawala channels. Khara is not revealing details of his laptop to the police and is also not cooperating with the investigators, alleged EOW investigators. Khara was responsible for illegally converting the cash into USDT cryptocurrency, the whistleblower’s emails claimed.
On January 6, thousands of investors from Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, and Mira Road staged protests outside Torres’ jewellery stores in Dadar, Mira Road, and APMC Navi Mumbai after they stopped receiving their promised interest payments in late December. On the same day, Shivaji Nagar police registered an FIR citing a fraud amount of Rs 13.48 crore from 66 different investors. The case was later transferred to the EOW. FIRs were also registered by Navghar police in Mira Bhayander, Rabodi police in Thane, and APMC police in Navi Mumbai.