Torres fraud case: company had plans to open 400 stores across India, claims whistleblower’s lawyer

However, Tiwari said, Gupta objected to their business model claiming they have not complied with the Indian laws and rules pertaining to forming and running a business, including tax compliances. Following this, Gupta also conducted an audit and submitted a report to the management of Platinum Hern Pvt Ltd which runs Torres. In the audit report, Gupta flagged several irregularities.

After this, Tiwari claimed, Gupta was called to the Lower Parel office and was pressurised by the accused persons to fix the problems. “My client was offered Rs 5 crore to clear all the mess and get everything sorted. As he showed unwillingness, he was subsequently threatened on January 2 by the accused foreigners,” Tiwari said.

Fearing for his life, Gupta has approached the Bombay High Court seeking police protection. Tiwari is representing Gupta in the High Court.

Torres CEO Mohamed Reyaz, another wanted person in the case, has also claimed to be a whistleblower. He claimed that he and Gupta, along with director Sarvesh Surve, acted as whistleblowers after collecting evidence for at least three months of the alleged financial irregularities in the company. He also said they submitted a 154-page report as part of their complaints with the Mumbai police via emails and personal meetings with EOW officials.

However, Torres has blamed Reyaz and Gupta for the fraud, claiming they induced a group of employees to commit the crimes.

The Mumbai police Economic Offences Wing (EOW) said it is investigating the claims made by Abhishekh Gupta, and that it has not come across information about Torres’s business expansion plan as yet.

Torres masterminds’ ‘aide’

Advocate Tiwari said Gupta had shown the audit report of the company and several financial irregularities to Lakshmi Yadav, who in custody of the Mira-Bhayandar Vasai Virar police for her alleged role in assisting the masterminds of the scam. Yadav was given a power of attorney to look after all the work of renting offices for the company in the MMR region. She claimed she was being paid Rs 5,000 for the work.

A panicked Yadav then wrote to the police commissioners of Mumbai and Thane on December 30, 2024, seeking urgent intervention in the alleged mass fraud, claimed Tiwari.

How the Torres case unfolded

Torres, run by Platinum Hern Pvt Ltd, allegedly floated multiple schemes offering weekly interests, considered ‘too good to be true’ with around 500 per cent annual interest on investments. Initially, investors were promised returns regularly, but Torres began defaulting in December last week.

On January 6, thousands of investors in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, and Mira Road gathered outside the showrooms of Torres’ jewellery stores in Dadar, Mira Road, and ApMC Navi Mumbai, staging protests after they stopped receiving their due interest in December last week.

The Shivaji police filed a First Information Report (FIR) the same day, mentioning the fraud amount as Rs 13.48 crore from 66 different investors. According to the FIR, more than 1.25 lakh individuals invested money, and the police estimated that the fraud amount may be Rs 1,000 crore.

Later, the case was transferred to Mumbai police EOW. Besides this, FIRs were filed by the Navghar police in Mira Bhayander, Rabodi police in Thane, and APMC police in Navi Mumbai.

So far, the Mumbai police EOW has arrested the company’s general manager Taniya Xasatova alias Tazagul Karaxanovna Xasatova, director Sarvesh Ashok Surve, and store in-charge Valentina Ganesh Kumar, and the Mira Bhayandar Vasai Virar police have nabbed Lakshmi Yadav, who is accused of renting the office space at Ramdev Park on Mira Road, supervisor Nitit Lakhwani, and manager Kaiser Khalid Sheikh.