As previously reported, the jewellery store network operated by diamond dealer Vashi Dominguez in the UK collapsed in 2023, leaving more than £170 million ($AUD350 million) in debt. According to a report from BBC Panorama, Dominguez has since vanished.
In recent weeks, in-depth reporting on the retailer's collapse has outlined serious allegations, including claims that diamond inscriptions were altered and that employees were instructed to pretend to be customers to fool consumers.
A report from The National has revealed that John Ames, a senior manager based in London, told the Insolvency Service he believed investors were being shown exaggerated sales figures. The whistleblower's warnings were reportedly made in May 2022.
Ames told the publication that he contacted the Insolvency Service after leaving his job as Vashi's chief technology officer in January of that year. The organisation can investigate reports of severe corporate abuse, such as significant misconduct, fraud, scams, or sharp practices in the manner in which a company operates, as well as administer bankruptcy.
“I honestly thought, what's the point? You’ve got a business, which, in my opinion, was falsifying its company returns, and I would have thought that would be something they would have been all over,” Ames told The National.
“I thought that would garner some kind of response, at least a phone call, and I could have shared a lot of information with them at that point. I was probably a bit naïve.”
Various reports in recent weeks have detailed ongoing outrage from investors over a perceived lack of response from authorities at the Metropolitan Police and Serious Fraud Office.
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