Police seal outlets of leading gold merchant

Several outlets of a leading gold and diamond jewellery merchant have been sealed by the Dubai Police as per the Dubai court directive as the jewellery chain owner(s) have allegedly left the country as more than 500 kilos of gold and bullion worth several millions is alleged missing. 

At least seven outlets of Kanwar Jewellers LLC, a well-known name in the gold trade, have been sealed by Dubai Courts and outlets of another group company, Al Shabah Jewellers, under the same management is also closed down leaving company employees and creditors in the dark.

Emirates 24|7 visited the closed outlets of the jewllery shops in Gold Land, Gold Center and Dubai Mall and found court notices displayed in front of the closed shops. Dubai Court Closure notices posted in front of the closed shop prevented people from entering the shop or opening the seal.

“Kanwar Jewellery has been in business since 1955, but all of a sudden the shops closed and the partners mobile phones did not respond. They have not been seen for almost two months now. A few days ago, Dubai Police team inspected the showrooms and sealed them for further legal proceedings. Some of the showroom employees were also questioned,” said a jewllery businessman running a shop close to Kanwar Jewllers in Dubai Gold Land.

Some of the gold merchants have been victims of record gold price that kept fluctuating over the last two years. Some others who have diverted funds for real estate have also come under financial stress. Merchants said gold trade has been a risky venture as many traders did not have sufficient risk coverage and used their funds for speculative investments in real estate.

“Some items are still inside the Gold Land shop, but the partners of the shop have been missing. Kanwar Jewllery LLC had branches in Dubai Mall Gold Souq, Dubai Festival City, the Gold Center, Meena Bazar, Century Mall, Gold and Diamond Park, Sharjah Shopping Center, Al Raha Mall in Abu Dhabi and Al Seer Mall in Ras al Khaimah.

“The Dubai Mall outlet of Kanwar Jewellers is also closed for some time now,” said a jeweller in the Gold Souq at Dubai Mall.

While phone calls to various company numbers were not answered, its website domain is not renewed. An earlier advertisement of Kanwar Jewllers in India Club Magazine and an Internet marketing site said the jewellery chain dealt with diamond jewllery, watches and other jewellery items.

About 50 employees who worked for Kanwar Jewllery and Al Shab Jewllery are either going back to their home countries or wandering around in the Gold Souq area. “We used to give them coffee, snacks and sandwiches every day on credit and they left without even paying our small amount,” said a cafeteria owner in the Gold Souk area. Compared to the millions that they owe to banks and wholesale dealers, our bill is very small amount,” said a merchant.

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