Over the past few weeks, rumors of financial strife and internal chaos have swirled around Boston-based, nationally renowned jewelers Alpha Omega. Now we hear that owner Raman Handa has quickly and secretly fled the country, taking with him his entire family — including son Amit and daughter Nidhi, both visible faces for the company — and leaving behind 4 stores, what must be millions of dollars worth of inventory, confused employees, and even the family dog.
Staffers arriving at Alpha’s Cambridge headquarters yesterday expected business as usual. But instead, they encountered some serious-looking visitors, and were told that the Handa clan had boarded a plane bound for India on Saturday with 17 suitcases and no plans to return.
“I walked in and I saw different people than usual,” says senior manager Radwan Kheireddine, who has worked for the Handas for more than 15 years. “They started asking me questions about the inventory. I said, ‘I don’t know who you are.’” That’s when the men told Kheireddine they represented a “consulting group working with the bank” but wouldn’t tell him their names, or which company they were from.
Kheireddine says neither he, nor anyone else at Alpha, has heard from the Handas. “I’m not sure when they’re coming back, if they’re coming back,” he says. “I’m in shock. I can’t believe it. I’m still trying to figure out why. I keep hoping it’s not true, but so far it’s turning out to be.”
Kheireddine claims AO has no plans for bankruptcy, and says he isn’t able to comment on rumors of unpaid debts. He does believe the company will be bought before the end of the year; bank officials have told him that three prospective buyers are already in place. “I have to believe they are coming back,” Kheireddine says of his employers, who are ranked among the top family jewelers in the U.S. “How sad that they spent 30 years building a nice business just to throw it all away.”
http://www.bostonmagazine.com/blogs/fashion/2007/12/19/breaking-news-alpha-omega-family-flees-us/
http://www.boston.com/business/globe/articles/2007/12/20/alpha_omega_owner_leaves_amid_rumors_report_says/
