A Colorado woman, Cherish Nortje, discovered that the $718,000 worth of jewellery she purchased from an Indian shop over two years was fake, valued at just $4. The revelation came when she displayed the jewellery at an exhibition in the US and realized the gold ornaments were merely gold-polished fakes.
Instagram deal turns into a nightmare
Cherish had connected with the shopkeeper, Gaurav Soni, via Instagram, purchasing what she believed to be authentic gold jewellery from his store in Jaipur’s Johri Bazaar. In April, she flew to India to confront Soni after uncovering the scam.
When Soni refused to address her concerns, Cherish reported the matter to Jaipur police and sought assistance from the US embassy in Delhi, India. Her police complaint detailed how she was defrauded of $0.7 million.
Soni and his father, Rajendra Soni, are currently at large. Police have arrested Nand Kishore, accused of providing fake authenticity certificates for the jewellery. “Investigations have revealed that the accused sold silver jewellery with gold polish, valued at just $4, to the foreigner for $718,000,” a police officer stated. The search for the absconding father and son continues.
