Five days after the Thane economic offences wing (EOW) started investigating the Goodwin Jewellers’ case, it is yet to find any major clue regarding the company’s absconding owners. “There is no major development in the case so far. The duo [founders Sunil Kumar and Sudheesh Kumar] had planned everything well in advance and have fled. We have checked all their properties in Thane district but have not found anything that can lead us to them,” said SN Patil, assistant commissioner of police, Thane EOW.
On October 22, the Goodwin owners shut down 12 stores in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Thane, Dombivli, Ambernath and Pune, stating that stock-clearing work would take place for two days. However, after the stores did not open four days later, panicked investors approached the police and started protesting outside the stores. The brothers then disappeared from Dombivli city.
The EOW sealed all the stores and booked founders Sunil Kumar and Sudheesh Kumar under the Maharashtra Protection of Interests of Depositors (in Financial Establishments) Act, 1999. The EOW started investigating the case on Wednesday and had sealed the accused’s two flats at Palava City and seized a high-end car. So far, the agency has registered 397 complaints by investors in Thane and Navi Mumbai, claiming a loss of ₹14.50 crore.
The police have learnt that the brothers are in touch with some of their close relatives through a text-messaging application. The owners had released a video clip last week to seek time to repay their clients. “The video might have been circulated through someone else’s phone. Our team is constantly working to track their activities,” said Patil.
{{/usCountry}}The police have learnt that the brothers are in touch with some of their close relatives through a text-messaging application. The owners had released a video clip last week to seek time to repay their clients. “The video might have been circulated through someone else’s phone. Our team is constantly working to track their activities,” said Patil.
{{/usCountry}}Welfare groups, activists reach out to investors
Activists and heads of Malayalee samajams (welfare communities) in different nodes of Navi Mumbai are holding meetings to urge investors with Goodwin Jewellers to register complaints with the police. In the past week, several investors attended four such meetings held across Navi Mumbai. Jojo Thomas, a social activist, said, “Several people who had invested with Goodwin call me every day. Therefore, I held several meetings with investors and told them that the best way is to register a complaint with the police. The samajams are also looking for solutions.”
Sreekumar T, a member Kerala Samajam, Vashi, said, “As an umbrella body, we have asked all Malayalee samajams to compile a list of investors.” More than 200 complaints have been registered against Goodwin Jewellers at Vashi’s APMC police station.