<p>Mumbai: Three top executives of a private jewellery firm -- two of them foreign nationals -- accused of duping investors of Rs 13.48 crore in <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/mumbai">Mumbai</a> by promising them hefty returns, were arrested on Tuesday evening, police said.</p>.<p>Platinum Hern Pvt Ltd, which runs the 'Torres' jewellery brand, is at the centre of the investment scam in Mumbai.</p>.<p>Those arrested were identified as Sarveh Ashok Surve (30), a resident Umerkhandi in South Mumbai, Uzbek national Tania alias Tazagul Karaxanovna Xasatova (52) and Russian citizen Valentina Ganesh Kumar (44), an official said.</p>.<p>Surve, who once worked as an Aadhaar card operator, is a director at Platinum Hern, while Xasatova served as general manager and Kumar as store in-charge in the company, he said.</p>.Cyber fraud crackdown: Rs 9 crore frozen, Rs 2 crore returned to victims in west Delhi.<p>All three were arrested by officials of the Shivaji Park Police Station in Dadar, which is probing the scam, and produced before a local court which sent them to police custody till January 13.</p>.<p>A search was on for two more accused -- Victoria Covalenko and company CEO Taufiq Riyaz alias John Carter, he said.</p>.<p>During the probe, it came to light the arrested accused, along with their aides, duped hundreds of unsuspecting people by promising them astronomical returns on investments in the firm's jewellery brand, the official said.</p>.<p>The firm had promised 6 per cent weekly returns on purchasing moissanite (naturally occurring silicon carbide used for jewellery and in industrial applications) stones from Torres stores. After purchasing these stones, the accused persons would persuade people to invest in the jewellery brand, said the official.</p>.<p>The scam came to light when hundreds of investors gathered at the jewellery brand's store situated at Torres Vastu Centre building in Dadar (West) on Monday evening after the company stopped paying promised returns to them.</p>.<p>Similar groups of investors gathered at various branches of Torres after realizing they have been cheated by the company.</p>.<p>A complaint was filed by a 30-year-old vegetable seller from Khar, based on which a case was registered against five accused persons, including company officials. The complainant had invested money between June and December 2024 after being promised high returns by the firm.</p>.<p>During the probe, 66 investors came forward with their complaints and the cheated amount was pegged at Rs 13.48 crore, the official said.</p>.<p>On Monday, over 300 investors gathered outside the Torres store in Dadar demanding their money back. While covering the protest, two TV journalists working with a regional news channel, Vishwanath Savant and Sachin Kubade, were assaulted by a group of people who asked them to leave the place.</p>.<p>The unruly group also damaged a video camera carried by one of the journalists, the official said.</p>.<p>Police have registered a case in connection with the assault and apprehended five persons, including a woman, he said.</p>
<p>Mumbai: Three top executives of a private jewellery firm -- two of them foreign nationals -- accused of duping investors of Rs 13.48 crore in <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/mumbai">Mumbai</a> by promising them hefty returns, were arrested on Tuesday evening, police said.</p>.<p>Platinum Hern Pvt Ltd, which runs the 'Torres' jewellery brand, is at the centre of the investment scam in Mumbai.</p>.<p>Those arrested were identified as Sarveh Ashok Surve (30), a resident Umerkhandi in South Mumbai, Uzbek national Tania alias Tazagul Karaxanovna Xasatova (52) and Russian citizen Valentina Ganesh Kumar (44), an official said.</p>.<p>Surve, who once worked as an Aadhaar card operator, is a director at Platinum Hern, while Xasatova served as general manager and Kumar as store in-charge in the company, he said.</p>.Cyber fraud crackdown: Rs 9 crore frozen, Rs 2 crore returned to victims in west Delhi.<p>All three were arrested by officials of the Shivaji Park Police Station in Dadar, which is probing the scam, and produced before a local court which sent them to police custody till January 13.</p>.<p>A search was on for two more accused -- Victoria Covalenko and company CEO Taufiq Riyaz alias John Carter, he said.</p>.<p>During the probe, it came to light the arrested accused, along with their aides, duped hundreds of unsuspecting people by promising them astronomical returns on investments in the firm's jewellery brand, the official said.</p>.<p>The firm had promised 6 per cent weekly returns on purchasing moissanite (naturally occurring silicon carbide used for jewellery and in industrial applications) stones from Torres stores. After purchasing these stones, the accused persons would persuade people to invest in the jewellery brand, said the official.</p>.<p>The scam came to light when hundreds of investors gathered at the jewellery brand's store situated at Torres Vastu Centre building in Dadar (West) on Monday evening after the company stopped paying promised returns to them.</p>.<p>Similar groups of investors gathered at various branches of Torres after realizing they have been cheated by the company.</p>.<p>A complaint was filed by a 30-year-old vegetable seller from Khar, based on which a case was registered against five accused persons, including company officials. The complainant had invested money between June and December 2024 after being promised high returns by the firm.</p>.<p>During the probe, 66 investors came forward with their complaints and the cheated amount was pegged at Rs 13.48 crore, the official said.</p>.<p>On Monday, over 300 investors gathered outside the Torres store in Dadar demanding their money back. While covering the protest, two TV journalists working with a regional news channel, Vishwanath Savant and Sachin Kubade, were assaulted by a group of people who asked them to leave the place.</p>.<p>The unruly group also damaged a video camera carried by one of the journalists, the official said.</p>.<p>Police have registered a case in connection with the assault and apprehended five persons, including a woman, he said.</p>