Mumbai: The Mumbai police probing the Torres fraud has said that it has so far received complaints from 1916 victims since case has been registered and total amount of cheating has increased to Rs 38.96 crores. The police claimed that the accused had spend around Rs 25 crores to set up offices in India, to lure customers.

The Mumbai police made this claims while seeking further custody of the three accused arrested by the Shivaji park police station last week. The court has allowed their plea and extended their custody further till January 18.

The Shivaji Park police, had last week, arrested three persons in the gigantic alleged fraud – brand director Survesh Surve, general manager Tania Kastoa alias Tazagul Karaxanovna Xasatova, an Uzbek national, and Dadar store in-charge Valentina Ganesh Kumar, a Russian national. However, the alleged masterminds, Ukrainian nationals John Carter and Victoria Kowalenko, are said to have fled the country.

The police has now added ten more accused, who are foreign national to the list of the accused Tausif Riyaz, Mustafa Karakoc, Oleksandr Borovyk, Oleksandr Zapichenko, Oleksandra Brunkivska, Oleksandra Tredokhib, Olena Stoian, Viktoriia Kovalenko.

The police said that during the investigation it has so far recovered an amount of Rs 6.75 crores out of which 77.15 lakhs were recovered from the house of Tania while the rest of the funds have recovered from the store. Besides, the probe further revealed that the accused had given fake diamonds instead of original, to the customers.

While seeking their custody the prosecution had pointed out that the accused had done a systematic planning from taking the shops on rent, to setting up furnitures, buying diamond jewelry and to return the funds to customers on their investment, the accused had allegedly spent Rs 25 cores and lured thousands of customers.