Film producer Ayesha Shroff, the mother of Tiger Shroff, filed a cheating case against one of her employees at Santacruz police station on Thursday. The employee, Alan Fernandes, was working as a master and fighter at her Bandra-based company, MMA Matrix, since 2018, according to the complaint filed with the police.
Fernandes was paid a monthly income to bring in events related to ‘mixed martial arts’ for Shroff's company. He was also in charge of the financial aspects of the national and international events that he was organising for Shroff's clients.
Fernandes had taken hefty amounts from Ayesha Shroff
On April 15, Shroff checked with two employees, Farid Sheikh and Naman Rajeev Bansal, about certain payments not showing up in the company's bank account and was told that Fernandes had asked the two to transfer some of the money to his personal account and even asked them to give it to him in cash.
Fernandes has managed 11 events, both national and international, Shroff said. He had asked for hefty amounts for various expenses such as registration and travelling for some events in Dubai and Thailand but there were no records of some transactions in the company's accounts, she alleged.
A total of as much as Rs 58,53,591 was put into Fernandes' personal account in cash and through online transfer, though he was paid a salary of Rs 3 lakh per month, according to the complaint. Shroff also alleged that Fernandes, during international events, posed as the company's CEO and also used letters written on the company's letterhead to get money to his account.
Alan Fernandes is incommunicando
When Shroff contacted Fernandes for clarification, he said he will get back to her but never responded, the complaint alleged. The police have registered a first information report on Thursday, citing charges under sections 420 (cheating), 408 (criminal breach of trust by clerk or servant), 465 (forgery), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 479 (property mark) among others of the Indian Penal Code.
“We have initiated an investigation in the matter. The accused employee will be summoned for inquiries and as and when required, we will make the arrest. As of now, the investigation is under way,” said deputy commissioner of police, Zone 9, Krishna Kant Upadhyay.