Vaibhav Pandya allegedly flouted an agreement between the brothers and set up his own proprietorship firm in the same business keeping Hardik and Krunal in the dark.
The Mumbai police have arrested Vaibhav Pandya, the stepbrother of cricketer Hardik Pandya, for allegedly duping the all-rounder and his brother Krunal of nearly Rs 4.25 crore.
According to the Economic Offences Wing (EOW), Pandya brothers along with Vaibhav had set up a polymer business firm in 2021 where Vaibhav was tasked to look after the daily operations.
Vaibhav allegedly flouted the agreement between the brothers and set up his own proprietorship firm in the same business (in some other person’s name) keeping the two brothers in the dark.
“Later, Vaibhav allegedly diverted money from the LLP (limited liability partnership) firm to his own firm. Gradually the profit in the partnership firm dropped. Besides, in excess to his due share Vaibhav also allegedly fraudulently increased his profit percentage in the LLP firm without letting the two brothers know. For this, he allegedly forged signatures of the Pandya brothers on an LLP agreement,” an officer who was part of the probe told press.
When the Mumbai Indians captain and Krunal Pandya discovered this, one of them confronted Vaibhav, who then threatened him with dire consequences, the officer added. Vaibhav has been charged with cheating, criminal breach of trust, forgery, criminal conspiracy and criminal intimidation, apart from other sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).