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Depositors are thronging to Vashi’s APMC Police Station, with as much as 190 complaints filed during the past 5 days against the owners of Goodwin Jewellers, which have shut shop across Maharashtra.
Separately, a video of the owners promising the investors their money is “safe” and “will be returned” is doing rounds on social media.
Till Tuesday, APMC Police Station has received 190 complaints from customers who had invested in the range of about Rs 1-3 lakh. As of now, the total amount of default from Goodwin Jewellers’ Vashi retail showroom is about Rs 1 crore, sources close to the development said.
Further, at least 3-4 complaints are being registered on a daily basis at APMC Police Station, they added.
Many of them had invested in Fixed Deposit (FD) schemes that promised an interest rate of about 16 per cent (much higher than bank rates) and in certain investment schemes wherein customers could buy gold at a later date.
“The owners are not traceable at all. They have absconded. Their Palava house was vacated sometime days back,” one of the petitioners, who was at APMC Police Station to file an FIR, said.
FIRs were filed against the owners accusing them of cheating and criminal breach of trust at Dombivli, Naupada in Thane, Palghar and Vashi among others. The case is being transferred to Economic Offences Wing, they added.
The jewellery chain had employed nearly 15 women in Virar itself, while Vashi is also said to have similar number of agents (both men and women). Vashi branch had a staff strength of about 8-10 personnel.
The firm's owners and whole-time directors A.M. Sunilkumar and A.M. Sudheeshkumar, who are also brothers hailing from Thrissur in Kerala, have been absconding since last week.
‘Money is safe’
Meanwhile in a video message released on WhatsApp, the owner-brothers of Goodwin said that the investors’ money was “safe” and said that they have not fled the country.
“We can't raise funds if we are arrested,” the video message in Malayalam said, adding "calculative move by some forces" to defame them had led to the trouble.
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