March 19, 2026
(Ketchikan, AK) – Today, Attorney General Cox announced the settlement of the State’s consumer-protection lawsuit against Soni Inc., a jewelry retail business which currently does business in Ketchikan under the name “Flawless Fine Jewelry,” and one of its corporate officers, Sunita Lakhwani.
In 2023, Soni Inc. sold man-made facsimiles of naturally occurring gold quartz and gold nuggets to undercover investigators. Soni Inc.’s employees stated that these objects had been mined in Alaska and included 24 karat pure gold. Some employees claimed that Soni Inc. made the jewelry in Alaska. In fact, Soni Inc. had obtained these objects from a California company called TT Jewelry. The “gold nuggets” sold to investigators were low-purity 14 karat gold shaped to resemble a gold nugget, and the objects sold to investigators as Alaskan “gold quartz” were pieces of quartz which had been infused with a low-purity alloy of gold, or in one case, contained no gold whatsoever.
“Alaska is known around the world for its gold—our mines, our mineral deposits, the history behind them,” said Alaska Attorney General Stephen Cox. “When a business tells visitors that gold was mined here, people believe it. If that’s not true, it’s taking advantage of visitors—and trading on Alaska’s name in the process. Enforcing our consumer protection laws here protects tourists, and it backs up the many honest Alaska businesses that are doing it right.”
Under this settlement, the defendants will pay a total of $60,000 in disgorgement to the State and restitution to four individuals the State’s investigation identified as victims of misrepresentations. Additionally, the settlement empowers the state’s investigators to do on-the-spot audits to verify any future representations by Soni Inc. that the products it sells are made in Alaska or “Alaskan” or that gold quartz or gold nuggets it sells are natural.
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Department Media Contact: Information Officer Sam Curtis at sam.curtis@alaska.gov or (907) 269-6269.
