Jewellery boss in £170m scam told shop staff to pretend to be customers

UK: Staff at a luxury jewellery retailer were told to pose as customers to trick investors in the UK’s biggest diamond scam, BBC Panorama can reveal.

The deception helped diamond dealer Vashi Dominguez get fresh cash from investors to prop up his business, which collapsed in 2023 with £170m of debts.

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Those investors lost everything when the Vashi retail chain’s promised £157m stock of diamonds was later only valued at about £100,000.

Mr Dominguez disappeared, but both the Metropolitan Police and the Serious Fraud Office have decided not to investigate.