Torres Jewellery fraud: India sends extradition request to Moldova for mastermind Olena Stoian

The authorities in Moldova detained the Ukrainian last month under an Interpol Red Corner Notice issued in February at the request of the Enforcement Directorate

MUMBAI: The Indian government has requested Moldova to extradite Ukrainian national Olena Stoian, one of the alleged masterminds of the ₹177-crore Torres Jewellery fraud, who was recently detained in the eastern European country, according to officials aware of the developments.

Mumbai, India - Jan. 6, 2025: Torres jewellery showroom in Dadar vandalised after cheating allegations by many investors in pretext of doubling their money, in Mumbai, India, on Monday, January 6, 2025. (Photo by Anshuman Poyrekar/ Hindustan Times) (Hindustan Times)

The authorities in Moldova, which borders Ukraine, detained Stoian last month under an Interpol Red Corner Notice (RCN) issued in February at the request of the Enforcement Directorate (ED), officials said.

Once she was detained, the ED acted swiftly, submitting documents and evidence pertaining to the money-laundering case against Stoian to the central government to support the extradition request, officials said. The ED expects Moldova’s response to India’s extradition request within a week, officials added.

The Interpol RCN against Stoian was based on a non-bailable warrant issued by a special court for Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) cases in Mumbai on November 1, 2025. The warrant was issued after Stoian failed to appear before the court following the ED’s first charge sheet in May 2025, which named Stoian and 12 others as the accused.

The agency termed Stoian and fellow Ukrainian Oleksandr Zapichenko, aka Alex, as the “architects” of the financial structuring and laundering operations of Platinum Hern Pvt Ltd, the holding company of the Torres Jewellery chain in India. Both fled the country a few days before the fraud came to light in early 2025.

Apart from Stoian and Zapichenko, the ED charge sheet also named foreign nationals such as Victoria Kovalenko (Ukrainian) and Tazagul Khasatova (Uzbek), and Indian citizens such as Alpesh Khara, Sagar Mehta, Lallan Singh, Abhishek Gupta, and Tausif Reyaz, who was the CEO of Platinum Hern.

According to the charge sheet, two co-accused firms, Astrozen Pharma Pvt Ltd and Prisah Advisory Pvt Ltd, allegedly controlled by Singh, assisted in money laundering by making bogus investments in Platinum Hern with the cash received from Zapichenko.

Torres Jewellery allegedly lured small investors to buy into its fraudulent investment schemes by selling low-value synthetic moissanite stones as high-value gemstones. It also allegedly promised exaggerated returns on its investment schemes, using misleading advertisements, fake bonuses and a Ponzi scheme to entice potential victims.

Platinum Hern allegedly collected unauthorised cash deposits without the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) approval, showing only ₹2.1 crore in its bank accounts despite larger, unaccounted transactions, the charge sheet said.

The ED’s money-laundering case is based on an FIR registered by the APMC police in Vashi, Navi Mumbai, on January 6, 2025. According to the FIR, Platinum Hern and its directors allegedly lured investors with promises of lucrative returns of 2% to 9% per week on investments in gold, silver, diamond jewellery, and gemstones. The schemes also allegedly incentivised investors with bonuses for recruiting others, creating a referral system to attract more participants. FIRs were also registered against the accused persons at the Shivaji Park, Rabodi (Thane) and Navghar police stations.

The ED’s probe revealed that the key accused used codes, software applications and instant messaging to communicate with each other, move money around, and transfer large sums to the alleged masterminds. An investigation into the unique codes revealed the alleged existence of a Telegram group named Cash Counter 1, through which the management used to send specific codes to authorise cash disbursements. However, this Telegram group was found to have been deleted by the administrator, rendering the data irretrievable, according to the ED.