Latest news with #MsBhatt
NDTV
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- NDTV
A US Link Found In Alia Bhatt Fraud Case. What Police Said
Alia Bhatt's former personal assistant allegedly leaked confidential information related to her production house Eternal Sunshine Productions to an unknown US resident and had duped the Bollywood actor of Rs 77 lakh by transferring money to bank accounts of various people and companies, Juhu Police officials probing the fraud said. Vedika Shetty, who worked as Ms Bhatt's personal assistant from 2021 to 2024, came in contact with a person named Shivasai Teja, who lives in the US, in December 2023. She then shared several confidential information pertaining to Eternal Sunshine Productions with the man through WhatsApp, without the knowledge and consent of the production house and its director, Soni Razdan. Efforts are being made to ascertain more details about Teja and how he came in contact with Shetty, the officials said. Shetty was arrested from Bengaluru on Tuesday. Besides, investigations also revealed that between May 2, 2022 and March 22, 2024, Shetty transferred huge sums of money from Ms Bhatt's account to the accounts of various people and firms, including one Satvik Sahu (₹43 lakh), Simi John (₹57,000) in the account of Simi John, Shashank Pandey (₹77,000), Chandni Jitendra Prasad Dixit (Rs 18 lakh) and ₹6 lakh in the name of a person named Manish Sukhij. The former assistant also purchased goods worth Rs 4.36 lakh in the name of the production house and got them delivered to various addresses, the police said. IPhones and iPads worth rs 2.94 lakh were also purchased using the company's money, they added. Police said the fraud came to light in January this year when Shetty sent an invoice to Ms Bhatt on the pretext of clearing bills for an event. Ms Bhatt turned suspicious and called the mobile number mentioned on the invoice and found the receiver to be a friend of Shetty. Following this, Ms Bhatt got her bank accounts audited and learnt about the fraud, the police added. Earlier, police said Shetty allegedly used to prepare fake invoices and get the actor's signature on them. She used to tell Ms Bhatt that those invoices were for various expenses incurred by the actor for travel, gatherings and meetings. After the actor signed the invoices, Shetty would send the relevant payment to her close friend, who used to transfer the entire deposited amount back to her account. The accused has been booked under relevant legal provisions, including for cheating and criminal breach of trust, the police said. After Ms Razdan filed a complaint, the police added, Shetty had gone into hiding and kept changing her location. She travelled to Rajasthan, Karnataka, Maharashtra, before eventually being caught in Bengaluru. There was no official statement from either Ms Bhatt or her production house till the time of filing this report.
NDTV
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- NDTV
Alia Bhatt's Ex Assistant Arrested For Cheating Her Of Rs 77 Lakh
Alia Bhatt's former personal assistant has been arrested for cheating the actor of Rs 77 lakh. Vedika Prakash Shetty, 32, is accused of committing irregularities worth Rs 76.9 lakh in Ms Bhatt's production company, Eternal Sunshine Productions Private Limited, and her personal accounts. This fraud, police have said, was committed between May 2022 and August 2024. The matter came to light after Alia Bhatt's mother, actor-director Soni Razdan, filed a complaint with Juhu police on January 23. Thereafter, a case was registered under sections relating to criminal breach of trust and cheating and police started looking for Vedika Shetty. According to police sources, Vedika Shetty worked as Ms Bhatt's personal assistant from 2021 to 2024. During this time, she handled the actor's financial documents and payments and planned her schedule. The investigation has revealed that Vedika Shetty allegedly prepared fake bills, got Ms Bhatt to sign them and siphoned off the money, police sources have said. She told the actor that the expenses were for her travel, meetings and other related arrangements. Vedika Shetty, the probe has found, used professional tools to make these fake bills look authentic. After Ms Bhatt signed them, the amounts were transferred to the account of her friend, who would then route the money back to Vedika Shetty. After Ms Razdan filed a police complaint, Vedika Shetty was on the run and kept changing her location. She was tracked down to Rajasthan, then to Karnataka, then to Pune and then to Bengaluru. Eventually, Juhu police caught up with her in Bengaluru and arrested her. She was then brought to Mumbai on a transit demand.
