Ukrainian actor held in Torres case possessed fake birth certificate, claimed to be Indian: police

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Mumbai: Ukrainian actor Armen Ataine, arrested in the Torres investment scam, possessed a fake birth certificate and made a false claim of being an Indian national, Mumbai Police has told a court here.

The actor, arrested last week, was remanded in 14-day judicial custody by a court here on Monday after his police custody ended. The police did not seek an extension of his custody but said they would apply for fresh remand if the need arose.

During the investigation, Ataine claimed that he was an Indian national and produced a birth certificate, Aadhaar card, driving license and other documents, the remand note submitted by the police said.

"Upon inspection of the documents, suspicion arose regarding the birth certificate, as it was mentioned that it was issued by the F Ward of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. Therefore, the said birth certificate was verified with the F Ward, and it was found to be forged," it said.

Platinum Hern Pvt Ltd, owner of Torres jewellery brand, is accused of cheating investors of crores of rupees through a combination of Ponzi and multi-level marketing (MLM) schemes.

Six persons have been arrested in the case until now.

More than 10,800 investors have so far approached the Mumbai police with complaints of being cheated, and the known fraud amount is more than Rs 57 crore, as per officials.

The firm duped them by promising attractive returns on investment, the complainants alleged.

Mumbai Police loan fraud case Ukrainian loan fraud