Torres fraud: Arrested Uzbek claims she was an interpreter, not GM

Xasatova, an Uzbek, has contended that she was shown as a general manager by another local manager, without any documentary proof

MUMBAI: Tazagul Xasatova, arrested in connection with the Torres Jewellery fraud, has claimed she has no connection with Platinum Hern Pvt Ltd, the company that owns the Torres brand, and that she was neither a director, nor shareholder, CEO, officer, nor manager of the company.

Torres fraud: Arrested Uzbek claims she was an interpreter, not GM

In her bail application filed before the special MPID court, Xasatova, an Uzbek, has contended that she was shown as a general manager by another local manager, without any documentary proof.

Her plea stated that she had not received any remuneration from the company. “There is neither any authority letter from the company authorising the applicant to become general manager or any kind of manager,” said the plea. It said the case against her was based on hearsay and there was nothing to connect her with the company and its investors.

Police have also arrested Sarvesh Ashok Surve, a director of Platinum Hern. Another director, Victoriia Kovalenko, is at large. Police claim that Kovalenko owned 90% of the firm’s shares, while Surve owns 1%. “None of the records whatsoever anywhere even remotely show that the applicant to be part of this company (Platinum Hern), whether directly or indirectly, and neither have the investors ever interacted with this applicant,” said Xasatova’s plea.

The Torres scam surfaced on January 6, when hundreds of investors gathered at the Torres showroom in Dadar, when the company abruptly shut its stores in and around Mumbai, and defaulted on payouts to its investors. Xasatova was among the first persons arrested by the Economic Offences Wing of the Mumbai police, along with Surve and Torres stores in-charge Valentina Ganesh Kumar, a Russian married to an Indian.

According to her bail application, Xasatova came to India in 2007 and was working as an interpreter and was not employed by any company. She claimed Platinum Hern hired her as an interpreter in 2024, since its promoters were based in Ukraine and Russia, according to the plea, which added that she had also invested over ₹8 lakh in the company.

Upon receiving a frantic call from her friend, Valentina Kumar on January 5, that investors were threatening to barge in and demand their money, Xasatova rushed to the spot to rescue her friend, said the plea filed through advocate S R Garud. “The applicant had merely gone to protect her friend from the angry mob which had gathered, and was not in any way employed or connected with the accused company,” the plea added.

“The entire case is based on assumptions and presumptions, and no documentary evidence connecting the applicant in any capacity is available with the prosecution,” claimed Xasatova. She also questioned if there was any CCTV footage or emails and phone calls made by her to the company which could prove her connection with the firm.

“The applicant submits that the entire investigation of the prosecution is with respect to circumstantial evidence, documents and electronic evidence, which cannot be influenced by the applicant,” said the plea.

Police said a large number of investors have been defrauded of crores of rupees through alleged Ponzi schemes run by Torres Jewellery stores in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Kalyan and Mira-Bhayandar. The EOW has arrested six persons so far, among them Tausif Riyaz, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Platinum Hern. He was arrested from Lonavala on January 26, after being on the run for three weeks. Police have also arrested an alleged hawala operator, Alpesh Khara, a Charni Road-based store owner, in connection with the scam.