Mumbai: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has claimed that Alpesh Khara, a suspected hawala operator, under investigation for money laundering in connection with the Torres fraud case, acquired proceeds of crime of over Rs 600 crore from the Dadar showroom of the jewellery brand.
The agency on Wednesday took custody of Khara from a special PMLA court till April 1. Khara was arrested by the Economic Offence Wing of the Mumbai Police, which is investigating the case. The ED, which is probing the money laundering aspect of the case, had sought to arrest Khara. Following the court’s permission, the agency arrested him and produced him before the special court.
While seeking Khara’s custody, the ED claimed that it had recorded the statement of a senior cashier of the Dadar showroom. Referring to the statement of the cashier, the ED said: “The average cash receipts were Rs 120 crore per month in October, November and December 2024, and Rs 80-90 crore per month in August and September. Before that, the sales were minimal, in the range of Rs40-45 lakh per month. Thus, Khara acquired proceeds of crime of over hundreds of crores from the Dadar showroom of Platinum Hern [which owns the Torres brand] alone.”
The agency claimed that Khara later converted the cash into USDT cryptocurrency and arranged the credit of the said USDT into the wallet of Olexandar Zepichenko (Alex), a senior official at Platinum Hern.
Khara’s lawyer Parvez Memon contended: “Our client has no direct or indirect involvement in the so-called Torres scam. He is merely a franchisee of HM Angadia, providing money transfer services to various clients, including the individuals in question, for a nominal commission of Rs 35 per lakh. At no point has he had any interaction with any victim of the alleged scam, nor was he aware that the funds in circulation were linked to any criminal conspiracy or constituted proceeds of crime.”
