Mumbai Police Book 5, Including Indore Energy Drink Owners, For Fraudulent ₹1.48 Crore Celebrity Ad Campaign Scam

Mumbai: The police have booked five people, including two owners of an Indore-based energy drink company, for allegedly hiring the services of a celebrity management company in Chembur and later not paying the charges amounting to Rs 1.48 crore. Notably, the ad campaign involves actors like Ankita Lokhande, Karan Kundra, Abhishek Bajaj, Arjun Bijlani, Rithvik Dhanjani, among others.

According to the FIR, the complainant, Roshan Bhinder, 48, is the owner of Ayman Entertainment company, which arranges celebrities and actors for endorsements, advertisements and films. She alleged that initially, the accused Tanish Chhajed, 26, and Manu Shrivastava, 29, both residents of Indore, visited her office in July 2024.

Claiming to be owners of 'Sky 63 Energy Drinks', the duo expressed interest in promoting their energy drink via social media and asked to arrange 25 celebrities for the campaign, said Bhinder. A few days later, Shrivastava claimed to have transferred Rs 10 lakh, but the money was never credited, she added.

The complainant said that she didn't bother at that time about the payment and went ahead to organise a party at the Bastian Hotel in Dadar on August 10, 2024, and invited 100 celebrities. Before the event, Chhajed introduced his associates Faizal Idrii, 30, Abdul, 30, and Riitik Panchal, 27 as team members, who have been named in the FIR.

Chhajed selected 25 celebrities and agreed to pay Rs 1.32 crore as their fees and Rs 16.91 lakh as Bhinder’s commission, said the FIR, adding that the latter’s company subsequently began producing reels and uploading them on social media. However, all the cheques handed over by the accused to pay the celebrities turned out to be dud, alleged Bhinder.