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The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) neglected to act on a whistleblower’s report about a £170 million diamond fraud nearly a year before the implicated company collapsed, according to an investigation by BBC Panorama. The funds invested were funneled into propping up Vashi Dominguez’s diamond retail business, known simply as “Vashi.” Following the company’s bankruptcy, a stockpile of diamonds—claimed to be worth £157 million and presented as security to investors—was instead sold for a mere £158,000.
John Ames, who served as the company’s chief technology officer, reached out to Panorama after the initial story aired in September. He provided documentation showing that in May 2022, he alerted the SFO that Vashi was misleading investors and falsifying its financial accounts. Despite these warnings, the SFO dismissed the complaint the very next day and allowed the company to continue raising capital based on false information until it eventually folded with debts totaling £170 million in April 2023.
According to SFO statements, the decision not to pursue the referral did not mean disregarding potential criminal behavior but rather reflected an internal assessment that the case did not meet their investigative criteria. Vashi had cultivated a reputation for offering custom high-end jewelry at accessible prices and operated several retail locations across the UK, including a prominent store in Covent Garden, London. On the day the company went into liquidation, Vashi Dominguez left the UK for Dubai and has since remained unreachable despite multiple contact attempts by Panorama.
John Ames joined Vashi in July 2021 and grew skeptical of the company’s operations within months after noticing discrepancies between the sales figures presented to investors and the actual internal data. Promotional materials claimed sales of £53.6 million in 2020, while internal reports indicated a much lower figure of £5.5 million. Similarly, monthly sales were reportedly about £8.5 million through August 2021, yet the internal records showed far lower overall sales for that period. Ames’ concerns culminated in him alerting the SFO in May 2022, explicitly stating that Vashi was defrauding investors and misstating financial data, including inflated stock valuations and incomplete revenue reporting.
Despite recognizing Ames as a genuine whistleblower, SFO internal documents revealed that his complaint was promptly closed without further inquiry or contact. The case was referred to Action Fraud, the UK’s national fraud reporting service, yet Action Fraud later confirmed it never received a referral. The SFO has since admitted that the information was not passed on. Ames expressed his disbelief, stating, “I thought I would get a phone call from someone, in shock and horror that this sort of thing was happening. I really did think somebody would take some kind of action.” Ames also reported Vashi to the Insolvency Service, which initially declined to investigate but began a probe after the company’s collapse in 2023.
Vashi continued operating and attracting investors for over ten months following Ames’s report to the SFO. Michael Moszynski, an advertising professional, revealed he invested tens of thousands of pounds in December 2022, well after warnings had been submitted to the authorities. He told the BBC, “Had the SFO done their job, I wouldn’t have lost my money. I was astonished to see the lack of any follow up.” Following Panorama’s investigation, Ames contacted the SFO again in September 2023. The SFO apologized for the delay, attributing it to an administrative error linked to updates made to the whistleblower platform in 2024—two years after Ames’ original report. The SFO stated that it typically handles about 35 cases at any given time, focusing on the most intricate economic crimes requiring specialized expertise and powers. Meanwhile, the Insolvency Service confirmed its investigation found irregularities but was hindered by the director’s departure from the country, though findings have been shared with law enforcement partners
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