3 more cases against owners of Goodwin Jewellers

Three fresh cases have been registered against the two promoters of Goodwin Jewellers who were arrested in December 2019 by Thane Police for allegedly duping thousands

Three fresh cases have been registered against the two promoters of Goodwin Jewellers who were arrested in December 2019 by Thane Police for allegedly duping thousands of investors across Maharashtra to the tune of ₹25 crore.

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Sunilkumar Mohanan Akkarakaran, 45, and Sudheerkumar Mohanan Akkarakaran, 43, were booked by LT Marg police station based on complaints by three jewellers claiming that the accused bought gold ornaments to the tune of ₹7 crore from them but did not pay.

The complainants Suken Rathod, 34; Bharat Mehta, 41; and Nilesh Shobhavat, 48, all jewellers from Zaveri Bazaar, had stated in their complaints that the accused first gained their trust by doing clean business since 2016 and after October 2019 started defaulting on payment. Copies of their complaints are with HT.

“The accused bought gold ornaments from the complainants and shut all branches and didn’t pay them back, cheating them of ₹3.34 crore, ₹2.65 crore and ₹98.97 lakh, respectively. On Thursday, three fresh FIRs were lodged based on their complaints and the accused have been booked for cheating and criminal breach of trust,” said an officer from LT Marg police station.

The complainant jewellers had in November 2019 sent their men to the Goodwin Jewellers shops and found that the owner had escaped after cheating thousands of its customer-cum-investors.

The two accused promotors were arrested by Thane Police’s economic offences wing (EOW) after they had surrendered at a court in Thane in December 2019.

According to Thane police, the accused brothers had been hiding in Kerala after they shut down 12 branches of Goodwin Jewellers across Mumbai, Pune and Kerala on October 22 without intimating customers and investors.

Aside from buying and selling jewellery, Goodwin Jewellers had introduced saving schemes that offered interest rates between 14% and 18%. Several cases of cheating and fraud have been registered against the accused and the losses are estimated to be worth ₹25 crore.

Thane police seized accused’s properties, bank accounts and vehicles during the investigation, which forced the duo to surrender. The two brothers were charged under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors Act. Both are presently in the judicial custody.

Store managers and accountants are among the other accused named in the EOW cases.