Staff at collapsed luxury jeweller Vashi have revealed how they were ordered to pretend to be customers in a bid to impress investors.
The chain, founded by businessman Vashi Dominguez, went bust in 2023 with debts of around £170 million. Promised diamond stock worth £157m turned out to be worth only about £100,000.
A Show for Investors
Former employees told BBC Panorama that Dominguez staged busy shop floors to convince backers his business was thriving. Staff with no jewellery training were told to sit at benches pretending to make pieces, while others acted as customers browsing.
“It was a whole elaborate show,” said former store manager Will Hayward. “The reality was, there were hardly any real customers.”
Big-Name Backers Fooled
Dominguez attracted high-profile investors including Pret a Manger’s ex-boss Clive Schlee, billionaire John Caudwell, and media figures such as Mark Schneider.
Accounts filed in 2021 claimed sales of more than £100m, but internal figures show the real number was closer to £5m.
Investors were also misled about diamond quality. Former staff allege cheaper stones were sold with their official grading marks scratched off.
Collapse and Disappearance
Even as the company crumbled, Dominguez lived extravagantly, with the business funding luxury cars and London flats.
When the firm was ordered into liquidation, he boarded a flight to Dubai. He has not been seen since.
Liquidator Benji Dymant says more than £100m owed to investors is unlikely to be recovered. Private investigators have reported possible sightings, but his location remains unknown.
No Investigation
Despite the scale of the losses, neither the Metropolitan Police nor the Serious Fraud Office is pursuing the case. The SFO said it only handles a limited number of major frauds each year.
Investors have reacted angrily. “All these people can be ripped off in such an obvious way and nothing is done,” said Schneider, who lost £750,000.
Dominguez once sold himself as a visionary jeweller. Today, he is accused of presiding over one of Britain’s biggest investment scams — and of vanishing with the money.
