Producer Varinder Kumar arrested for cheating
The Oshiwara police arrested Varinder Kumar better known as V. Kumar, a film and TV serial producer, from his residence in Andheri West, for allegedly cheating several Bollywood personalities of crores of rupees by offering to give them Maharashtra Housing Area Development Authority (MHADA) flats in Lokhandwala which were not even his, at concessional rates.
He duped Bollywood personalities such as director duo Abbas-Mustan, director Ashok Gaikwad, lyricist Sameer and singer Aadesh Shrivastav. He had allegedly also cheated a builder Murarilal Modi after promising to introduce his son in a film as a lead actor last year.
According to the cops, Kumar would lure the celebrities on the pretext of offering MHADA flats at cheaper rates than the market price under Chief Minister's quota and then skip town with the money. He would ask them to join his company named VG Productions, as only employees of his company were allowed flats.
Lyricist Sameer even became a creative director of his production house. He paid the money for the flat at Kumar's residence after signing the agreement. But Kumar didn't give Sameer the agreement copy, and whenever Sameer enquired him about the flat, he would ask him to wait, citing different reasons. Sameer lodged a complaint against Kumar and the cops were trying to trace him since then. It was difficult to nab him because he kept changing his mobile number every 15 days.
On Wednesday, after a tip off, police visited Kumar's apartment in Twin Towers at Lokhandwala Towers. Cops had to break open the door to arrest him. Kumar has been arrested under charges of forgery and cheating, and will be produced in court today.
The matter is now under investigation, but Kumar has denied the allegations when he was interrogated by the police and claimed that he took money from the people to produce films, and had returned it.
Courtesy: Bollywood Hungama
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