ED action in money laundering case related to Torres Ponzi, raids conducted at more than 10 places in Mumbai-Jaipur

On Thursday, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) raided a money laundering case related to a fraud called Torres Investment. In this case, many investors were allegedly cheated. Raids were conducted at about 10-12 places in Mumbai and Jaipur. The ED started the investigation on the basis of the FIR of the Economic Offenses Wing of Mumbai Police and filed a criminal complaint under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). So far, more than 3,700 investors have complained of fraud to the Mumbai Police, and the total amount of fraud is said to be more than Rs 57 crore.

A jewelry company owned by the Torres brand has been accused of cheating investors of crores of rupees through Ponzi and multi-level marketing (MLM) schemes. The scam came to light when hundreds of investors gathered at one of the company's stores in Dadar (West) earlier this month as the company stopped paying them the promised amount. The police have arrested three accused so far, including Tajagul Zasatov, an Uzbek national, Valentina Ganesh Kumar, a Russian national, and Sarvesh Surve, all senior officials of the company.

Investors had claimed that the company's promoters had offered cars, flats, gift cards, and hampers as rewards. Bombay High Court observed on Wednesday that police have failed to take quick action against the scam and thus have discharged their duty. "No official was prompted to take quick action," said the court.

Also, sources close to the case believe that so far both the police and the ED are looking for the mastermind of this fraud, who started a jewelry company (Platinum Hearne) which owns the Torres brand. This firm is the same place from where the accused got the initial funds.