Torres Ponzi scheme: CEO Tausif Reyaz, who claimed to be whistleblower, arrested from near Pune

An EOW officer linked to the investigation has confirmed that Reyaz was arrested from an area near Pune on Saturday night. He was subsequently taken to Mumbai and was on Sunday produced before a court and remanded in police custody till February 3.

Virar resident Reyaz originally hails from Patna, Bihar, officials said. Though he claimed to be one of the whistleblowers himself, the EOW suspected that he could be a key accused involved in the alleged mass fraud. Sensing that the fraud was going to get exposed soon, he used the audit report by the company’s Chartered Accountant Abhishek Gupta – which exposes irregularities – to cover up his role, investigators said.

Earlier, the EOW arrested the company’s general manager and Uzbekistan national Taniya Xasatova alias Tazagul Karaxanovna Xasatova, director Sarvesh Ashok Surve, store in-charge Valentina Ganesh Kumar and alleged hawala operator Alpesh Khara.

Eight Ukrainians and a Turkish national are wanted in the case. The Mumbai police recently managed to get an Interpol Blue Corner notice issued against them.

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 became public.

The whistleblowers’ emails claim that the accused the masterminds purchased cryptocurrency Tether worth over Rs 200 crore in the past three months and transferred it out of India.

After the arrest of alleged hawala operator Khara, EOW officials reportedly learnt that once cash was collected from the company’s investors at its six branches, the Ukrainian nationals and Reyaz would take it to the Grant Road office of Khara so that it could be sent abroad via hawala channels.

Khara was responsible for illegally converting the cash into cryptocurrency, the emails claimed. “The outflow of Rs 200 crore highlights the scale of money laundering facilitated by Torres. The use of cash to purchase cryptocurrency bypasses legitimate financial channels and poses a significant risk to India’s financial ecosystem. The involvement of foreign nationals, hawala operators and dual identity holders indicate a well-organised cross-border operation,” the emails stated.

Multiple emails with identical content were sent to various authorities between December 30, 2024, and January 3, 2025, by the alleged whistleblowers including Reyaz, CA Abhishekh Gupta and director Survesh Surve.

Gupta, who has sought protection from the high court, is assisting the EOW in the investigation, while his partner Surve has been arrested.

The emails also say that nearly 60,000 people invested money in Torres and the accused foreign nationals have committed similar frauds in Ukraine and Turkey.

So far, nearly 4,000 investors have approached the EOW in this regard. The police have carried out searches and have seized and frozen valuables, including cash worth Rs 20 crore.