Investors left in lurch as jeweller cons them with gold scheme

A gold investment scheme of a local jeweller turned out to be a fatal mistake for several investors after he allegedly escaped with their investments.

The matter came to light when several investors found that the shutters of one Vimal Gold Jewellers near Bapa Sitaram Chowk in Bapunagar were down.

The jeweller had made it a point to advertise his schemes every Sunday and would hold functions for the same.

The jewellery shop offered a gold investment scheme in which investors were to pay monthly installments of anywhere between Rs 500 and Rs 1000 or more to pay towards certain amount of gold.

It is believed that some 600 investors had invested their money in the scheme, which had been operational for over a year now. On Sunday, investors came to the shop on hearing that the shutters were down.

They found that the owner Prakash Modi had fled the city. It is believed that he fled with investor's wealth pegged at around Rs 8 crore although the police have not confirmed the same.

VR Chaudhari, police inspector of Krushnanagar police station said that so far 25 people have come forward to register a complaint. "We think there are more and complaints are coming in," said Chaudhari.

He said the gold scheme involved people paying a certain amount of money — Rs 500 to Rs 1,000 — every year and at the end of a certain period a draw was to be held. "Whoever won were to be given their money in the form of gold,"said Chaudhary. He said investigations are going on in the case. "The victims realised they were duped when few called up the jewellery shop owner and he failed to respond to their calls," said Chaudhari.