04 May,2022 07:54 AM IST | Mumbai | Shirish Vaktania
The Tanishq store in Santacruz that was cheated. Pic/Shirish Vaktania
A former employee of Tanishq has been booked for cheating a Santacruz store of the top jewellery chain by using fake gold coins. The police said accused Vinit Soni, 40, and his nephew Prithvi Soni, 20, duped the store of Rs 54 lakh between December 2021 and January. Vinit allegedly used identical packaging, logo and designs to exchange gold-plated silver coins for gold jewellery. Prithvi was nabbed last week.
The Santacruz police said the mama-bhanja duo is from Navrangpura in Ahmedabad and faces cheating cases in that city and Surat as well. In Mumbai, they targeted a Tanishq store in Santacruz West on Linking Road.
Senior Inspector Gyaneshwar Ganore of Santacruz police station said, "Vinit Soni was an employee of the Tanishq jewellery store at Narangpura in Gujarat. During his stint, he studied every aspect of the operation there. We suspect the involvement of some insiders as the packaging looks original. We are trying to find out how Vinit Soni managed to source such original packaging."
PSI Yogesh Pawar, the investigation officer, said the gold coin is somewhat sealed in a package. "Vinit knew that if the packaging is not disturbed, the store staff won't open it and instead directly send it for melting. The size, weight, hallmark and design of the coins brought by the accused look exactly the same as original coins," said Pawar.
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The store, Pawar said, realised that it had been conned only after it sent the coins for melting after some days. "This seems to be a big racket with many players. We suspect the accused also sold these fake gold coins to people at cheaper rates."
mid-day visited the Tanishq store at Santacruz West, but the staff refused to talk about the case. An officer from Navrangpura police in Gujarat said, "We have also registered similar cases against Vinit Soni. The accused has cheated the same jewellery store where he worked."
Dec/Jan
When the duo targeted the Santacruz shop
