Hardik Pandya’s stepbrother has been arrested by the Mumbai police for allegedly cheating him and his brother Krunal in lure of polymer business and doing fraud of more than Rs 4 crore, a PTI report quoted an official as saying.
Vaibhav Pandya (37) was apprehended by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the city police on the grounds of criminal intimidation, forgery, criminal breach of trust, among other sections.
What is the case about?
The official said,’’ A firm based on partnership was created in Mumbai between Pandya’s brothers and with their step brother in the year 2021. The siblings invested 40 per cent individually and the remaining 20 per cent was invested by Vaibhav, according to partnership terms. Vaibhav was entitled to manage daily operations and the profits would be divided equally,’’ PTI reported.
Later, Vaibhav opened another firm without the consent of the cricketers and the firm was doing the similar business, with this he breached the contract, added the official.
The interest of the original firm faced a loss of around Rs 3 crore because of the incorporation of the new firm, according to the official. Vaibhav also transferred funds of around Rs 1 crore from the partnership firm account in his personal account, he stated.
Vaibhav also intimidated Hardik to harm his public image, when the cricketer confronted him. Currently, Vaibhav is under police custody till Friday and was also presented in local court.
On Monday, the cricketer’s accountant had registered a complaint at the Khar police station on the grounds of which a case was submitted and the case was handed over to the EOW.