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Dilip Chhabria (R) has been asked to appear before the special PMLA court on February 26.
Mumbai:
Actor and stand-up Kapil Sharma told the Enforcement Directorate (ED) that car designer Dilip Chhabria, accused of cheating several celebrities, tried to blame him for not delivering a customized vehicle he had ordered and resorted to illegal methods . ways to get money from him.
The ED has recorded the statement of Mohammed Hamid, Sharma’s authorized representative, as part of its chargesheet filed against Chhabria in a money laundering case.
A special PMLA court, which is presiding over the case, on Wednesday took cognizance of the chargesheet and summoned Chhabria and six other accused in the case.
They have been asked to appear before him on February 26.
ED’s case is based on three FIRs registered against the accused, including a cheating case filed by Sharma.
In his statement to ED, the actor’s representative said that Sharma, the sole owner of K9 Productions, had approached Chhabria for the purchase of a customized vanity table in December 2016.
Subsequently, an agreement was signed between K9 Productions and Dilip Chhabria Design Private Limited (DCDPL) in March 2017 for the delivery of a customized vanity for Rs 4.5 crore (excluding taxes), he said.
As per the agreed terms, Sharma’s production house made a payment of Rs 5.31 crore (including tax), the statement said.
Hamid claimed that DCDPL neither delivered the vanity promised to Sharma nor returned any money.
When asked about the delay in work on the vanity, Chhabria told Hamid, who had gone to the car designer’s premises in Pune to inspect the vehicle, that all the materials for its interior had been purchased and kept in a warehouse. Chhabria spoke about his stressed financial situation and his need for funds, the actor’s representative said.
Later, Chhabria sent an additional quote of Rs 54,20,800 to Sharma and requested funds for delivery of the vehicle.
The sudden demand for additional money raised doubts in Sharma’s mind. When asked about his intention to extort money from the actor, Chhabria took a hostile approach, the statement said.
The accused started mailing correspondence to Sharma, falsely blaming him for the late inspection of the van and citing the same reason for non-delivery of the vehicle, he said.
Sensing his intention to cheat, Sharma took legal action and sent a recovery notice to the car designer’s firm on April 18, 2019, the actor’s representative said in the statement.
However, Chhabria resorted to multiple illegal ways, including arbitrary parking charges for undelivered vanity and taking a loan for a sister company (Mis DC Motor Works Pvt Ltd) to make payments to suppliers, to extract money from Sharma, he said. . .
Sharma then lodged a police complaint against Chhabria and his associates, the statement said.
ED said the accused persons and the company have knowingly indulged in illegitimate means for personal benefits and have caused loss to all the complainants “to the tune of Rs 18.13 crore”, which it termed as proceeds of crime.
Citing money trails, ED said the amount was directly or indirectly credited to the bank accounts of the accused company. The money trails prove that the generated crime proceeds were laundered through illegal means by the main accused Chhabria, ED added.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated channel.)