It looks like several celebrities have been duped by an advertising agency as they called actors to endorse an energy drink but did not clear their dues. Celebrity manager Roshan Bhinder has filed a complaint against five people at Chembur Police Station, according to which, five people have duped a total of 25 celebrities through fraud.
The people in whose name the complaints have been registered include Tanish Chheja, Manu Srivastava, Faisal Rafique, Abdul and Hrithik Panchal.
It was back in July 2024 that Roshan got a call from a man with a request for 25 artists for an energy drink brand. While the accused claimed to have made an advance payment of Rs 10 lakh, no money was received. He then took the artists to a party in Dadar upon request, which included over 100 celebs, of which, 25 were selected.
The deal was done and the final amount came to Rs 1.32 crore. He then received a cheque worth Rs 15 lakh as an assurance, and they then went ahead with the shoot and a promise that the payments would be made within 35 days. The said energy drink is called Sky 63.
Now, cheques given to artists at the event bounced, and when Roshan reached out to the accused, there were made-up stories of transferring money but no money was received. Now as per reports, cheques for Rs 6.5 lakh for actress Tejasswi Prakash and Rs 1.25 lakh for Adrija Roy also bounced.
When the accused later promised that he would issue two more cheques, Bhinder made advance payments but the payment from the accused bounced again, due to which, Bhinder’s cheque was also not paid.
The celebrities who’ve been involved in the fraud, include Ankita Lokhande, Aayush Sharma, Abhishek Bajaj, Adrija Roy, Baseer Ali, Niyati Fatnani, Paras Kalnawat, Samarth Jurel, Helly Shah, Kashish, Ankit Gupta, Mohit Malik, Vijayendra Kumeria, Jannat Zubair, Tejasswi Prakash, Karan Kundrra, Mickey Sharma, Ridhima Pandit, Jay Bhanushali, Kushal Tandon, Vibha Anand, Sana Sultan, Bhumika Gurang, Dhvani Pawar, and Sana Makbul.
As per complainant Roshan Bhinder, Rs 1,32 crore was defrauded from artists while Rs 16.91 lakh has also been defrauded from his personal funds. A case has now been registered against the five people, and it is currently under investigation by Mumbai Police.
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