Thane (Maharashtra): Thousands of customers of a jewellery store chain in Maharashtra are distraught this festive season after learning about the mysterious closure of the store’s branches all across the state. It is suspected that owners of Goodwin Jewellers have fled with crores of rupees invested by customers. The Dombivali Police have registered a case against owners Sunil Nair and Sudhir Nair who have allegedly fled and are untraceable now.

"We have registered a case against owners of Goodwin Jewellers. Around 300 people came to us and complained about the fraud committed by the store's Dombivali branch. It has committed a fraud of over Rs 10 crore. We have sealed the outlet," Suresh Ahire, Senior Police Inspector at Dombivali Police Station, Thane told news agency ANI.

Customers of Goodwin Jewellers gathered outside the store's Dombivali branch claiming that the outlet was not opened for some days before Diwali.

"We are coming to the shop for last four days. There is a notice which said that the shop will be closed for two days. They have fled away with our money. They refused to give us our money and said that they don't have it now. There are around 500 people who deposited their money in the store," a customer said.



Another investor, A Thomas told ANI: "I have done a fixed deposit of Rs 2 lakh. As per their commitment, I came to the shop to pick up my gold but it was closed. Around 300 people gathered later and filed a complaint at the police station."

In the name of various gold saving schemes, hundreds of customers had invested billions of their hard earned money in the branches of these jewellery stores.

According to an ABP Majha report, the owners vacated their house on October 21 and disappeared with their family.

The unearthing of this multi-crore scam comes on the heels of thousands of investors in Maharashtra already reeling under the losses of the PMC Bank scam.