Posters at the Nathella jewelry store say that customers will be refunded soon.
Highlights
- Nathella has 7 branches in Tamil Nadu, 5 in Chennai
- Many customers subscribed to gold scheme, were paying installments
- Will refund all after selling ancestral property: owner
One of Chennai's biggest jewelers has closed down all seven of its shops in Tamil Nadu, citing losses and a cash crunch.
The owners of Nathella, a brand that is 70 years old, have said they will sell large amounts of property to pay hundreds of customers who signed up for a scheme that saw them buying gold in installments.
They are worried that the money they deposited has disappeared.
Other customers who sold jewelry to the chain say the cheques that they were given have bounced.
Posters at the shop say that customers will be refunded soon.
Nathella has five shops in Chennai. The manager of one of them has been arrested after about 50 customers filed a police case alleging they have been gypped of 17 lakhs, reports the Business Standard.
Prappana Kumar, managing director of Nathella Jewellery, said to the Business Standard, "We are selling our ancestral property to settle customers' dues, particularly those who invested in the gold saving schemes. We are also planning to reach out through mails. We hope to settle dues in a couple of weeks."
Outside a closed branch of Nathella, Manikanda and his friend Veera (both use first names only) wait anxiously with the letter they received. They had deposited close to two lakhs. But two months after he was to receive the jewellery he paid for, he says, "It's stressful. I had planned something. I put two thousand thinking it's a good investment. We are giving a police complaint."