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Come sit by our campfire as we tell you the tale of the most suave and slick jewelry heist which took place at TBZ Jewelers in Mumbai 1987.
Come sit by our campfire as we tell you the tale of the most suave and slick jewelry heist which took place at TBZ Jewelers in Mumbai 1987.
Prefer to read? Here's my Reddit post on this case.
Source : indiatoday.in
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Full Story:
Well, I hope that title got your attention because I really couldn't decide on how to get you to click to read this incredulous tale of deceit & hoax. I'm a long time lurker, first time poster. I hope you enjoy this story from India! :]
Ok let me set the scene, it's March 19th 1987 in the city of Mumbai India.
TBZ Jewelers is one of the premier jewelry brands in India who average around $250 million is sales annually.
Back in 1987 on that day Pratap Zaveri the owner, sat in his store expecting it to be an ordinary day with hundreds of people visiting the store to buy glittering baubles.
Gold is HUGE in India. It is an absolute must have, the in thing since the big bang. Like if you got no gold you ain't sitting with the cool kids bruh. You gotta have you some Aurum especially if you are about to get married, going to a wedding, it's Diwali, it's Dhanteras, you got a new job, someone hit you up on tinder..? I dunno the list goes on. In short, if anything auspicious is about to happen you go buy some gold ok?!
The Raid
At about 2:15pm, there was a commotion at TBZ's entrance. There stood a delegation of 28 stern looking officials led by a stone faced man. Uh-oh, something was about to go down!
The leader was a dark complexioned man with a strong south Indian accent. He stood 5ft 6in tall, wore glasses and a crisp three-piece suit.
He identified himself as Officer Mohan Singh from the Research and Analysis Wing of the CBI -Central Bureau of Investigation.
and calmly stated that his team was here to perform a search & seizure Raid because they had some tip off about Tax Evasion and Gold Quality discrepancy.
TBZ had incurred many such Raids in the past as a lot of Gold related businesses do in India. Cash deals which are undervalued on the books aren't uncommon, this helps in evading taxes for both the buyer & seller.
Mohan Singh showed Pratap Zaveri a search warrant and then instructed his team of 28 to start searching the store premises at once.
As is standard procedure, Mohan Singh took possession of Pratap Zaveri's licensed Revolver, ordered the store's CCTV cameras to be turned off and sealed all entrances.
He then ordered the cash register to be emptied and sales slips confiscated so that the 2 could be tallied.
Mohan then walked around the store, picking out pieces of jewelry at random and sealing them into clear plastic bags which he then stapled after attaching slips on them with the item details on it. He was seizing these pieces for Gold Quality Assessment.
Why you ask? Well in 1968, The Govt. of India passed the Gold Control Act to try and restrict the import of Gold into the country. India's economy was in shambles and the Govt's foreign exchange reserves were low, their liabilities at the verge of defaulting.
Under the The Gold Control Act aimed at reducing Gold imports, (further reducing the price of the Indian Rupee) many Goldsmith's and retailers were often raided to check on and seize Gold above the legally allowed limit and quality of 14K. (Bleh get that insipid junk metal outta here!) It was abolished in 1990 thankfully but gave rise to a solid black market for smuggling gold into India from the Middle East.
This is probably why Pratap Zaveri was used to the raids at that time and didn't bat an eye when Mohan seized the samples for assessment.
After Mohan had the samples & Cash packed into official briefcases and placed in their Bus outside he instructed his team to keep an eye on the store while he raided another TBZ outlet.
The 28 CBI officials stood guard over an increasingly anxious Pratap Zaveri & his employees for almost an hour before they themselves felt the need to go look for their Commanding officer.
Their bus was missing and none of the other TBZ stores reported any new raid. A call was placed to the Mumbai Crime Branch at once because something was awry.
Upon questioning, the CBI officers revealed that they were in fact freshly employed with the CBI, mere rookies who Mohan had recruited just the day before via an Ad in the newspaper!
Uhhhhm what?! Yes you read that correctly.
The day before, there was an Ad in the Times of India which read -
“Wanted, 50 Dynamic Graduates for Intelligence officers & Security Officers Post. Come personally for interview with Bio-data, certificates, passport size photo on 18.03.1987 at hotel Taj Intercontinental Enquiry counter between 10am to 5pm.”
These 28 candidates had showed up and were questioned by Mohan extensively on how they would handle potentially dangerous situations involving smugglers and such. He took the photos they had brought with them and asked them to meet him the next morning for a practical examination, a field trip of sorts.
If they demonstrated exemplary authority on this trip they would be given the job of Intelligence Officers in the CBI!
The next day he put them all in a Bus, handed them official looking CBI ID cards with their names & photos affixed all dandy, and then they proceeded to TBZ for the mock 'Raid'.
Once the Mumbai Police was called and the hoax was discovered Pratap Zaveri had to come to grips with the harsh fact that he was out nearly $175,000 worth of assets which in today's money is about $400,000. This would set someone up for life in India back in the day.
The poor candidates had to face the fact that they had fallen in Mohan's clever trap and become shills in his Con Job.
The Police traced Mohan back to the Taj Hotel where had stayed for a night before the interviews. He had checked into Room 415 and given an address from Thiruvananthapuram in the state of Kerala.
After he left from TBZ, he had returned the bus to The Taj and taken a Taxi to Vile Parle, north Mumbai.
He was never seen again.
Theories:
Who was he?
The manner in which Mohan conducted himself was exactly like that of someone with authority, a law enforcement or intelligence officer. He had confidence, he knew the exact procedures for search & seizure. He knew what the ID cards looked like & had possession of 28 very real looking fake ID cards.
This makes me believe that he definitely knew about the Intelligence wing and was familiar with their procedures either firsthand or as a peripheral employee who might have silently observed them many times.
He seems like a seasoned Con though, he figured if you look the part & act the part - people WILL believe it, he was right.
Are there other Cons like this?
Why The Taj?
Operating since 1903, The Taj Hotel is an ultra luxury Hotel in Mumbai and has always been the go to place for the rich & famous in Mumbai. It's past visitor's have included Maharajas, dignitaries from Europe and even the Clintons.
By associating himself with the Taj, via calling interviewees there, Mohan aimed to legitimize his position as a high ranking CBI official. You wouldn't question an otherwise suspicious proposition if it were being conducted at a prestigious establishment like the Taj!
It's a form of virtue signaling imo, or is there another word which better describes this gimmick?
Where did he Go?
Vile Parle is in the North of Mumbai and the one big landmark there is the Airport. Back in 1987 the Domestic Airport was at Santa Cruz-Vile Parle and the International Airport was another 20 minute drive further north. There were flights to all major cities of India at that Domestic Airport, including Thiruvananthapuram.
A typical petty criminal would have fled to the Train station to disappear into the masses. I feel like this Swaggy Swindler had class and an air about himself. He must have flown by Air. At that time, only the elite would fly as tickets cost an arm and a leg.
There was little scrutiny of baggage and it was a quick way to put distance between Mumbai and himself.
The Police did send a team to Kerala but it yielded nothing.
Plus, if he gave them that address willingly, it HAS to be a red herring right? What do you think?
Source & References :
Archived Article from indiatoday.in.
Some pics & article from economictimes.
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