The Criminal Investigation Bureau has apprehended 13 people suspected of involvement in the sale of counterfeit jewelry.
The bureau launched an investigation after complaints came in from people who had been duped into purchasing the counterfeit jewelry from TV home shopping networks. The bureau found that six jewelry vendors have been selling artificially-colored jewelry at inflated prices. It has also found that the vendors colluded with unscrupulous appraisers to provide faked documents in order to gain buyers’ trust.
At a press conference on Thursday, bureau officials said that these jewelry vendors aimed to take advantage consumers by exploiting legal loopholes and a lack of trustworthy appraisers. The officials have called on would be customers of home shopping networks to be careful about what they buy.