Bollywood Producer cons 100 People out of Rs. 6 Crore

Police have arrested a Bollywood producer for allegedly scamming more than 100 people of at least Rs. 6 Crore (£610,000) after promising them high returns on investments within the entertainment business.

Chandrakanth Sharma was arrested by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Delhi Police.

While the amount is Rs. 6 Crore, police believe that the amount may continue to increase.

According to police, Sharma lured investors by promising them returns of over 70% after making investments in various projects under CineMirchi Productions.

Investigating officer OP Mishra said that Sharma and his wife attracted the investors by getting their photographs taken with known Bollywood celebrities and doing publicity campaigns.

The couple has produced two films, Lust Wala Love and The Great Indian Casino. However, they are yet to be released.

They also lured investors by claiming that they intended to produce one international film each year.

The matter came to light when police received complaints from at least 88 investors.

After investing the money, Sharma paid them the return once before never hearing from him again.

Some of the victims also said that an AIIMS employee had lured them into Sharma’s investment scheme.

Mishra said: “Based on complaints from 88 investors, we registered an FIR under the relevant sections and found that the accused was continuing with the investment procedure.

“He was even giving life threats to some of the investors.”

CineMirchi would promise a return of over 70% on a weekly basis and generated an ID for each investor which they could use to invest more money.

The Bollywood producer also offered a five per cent incentive to those who introduced a new investor to the production company.

Police registered an FIR and subsequently launched an investigation into the large-scale fraud.

As police began tracking Sharma, they discovered that he frequently changed his phone number to avoid detection and would also make calls outside of Delhi.

He would use SIM cards under the names of his aides.

Following an investigation which lasted a few months, police located and arrested Sharma in Chandigarh.

After his arrest, Sharma was remanded in custody. Meanwhile, police are questioning his wife to determine what her role was.

While police have said that more than 100 people have been scammed, they suspect that the total number of investors is much higher.

Police believe that there may be as many as 1,000 people as a lot of victims have not come forward to lodge a complaint.