Celebrity chef Kelvin Cheung was arrested by Khar Police for allegedly cheating a businessman to the tune of USD 200,000, who had made an investment for the overseas franchises of the restaurant. Police said that Cheung was allegedly ignoring the complainant's several attempts to make contact, after which the latter approached police to lodge a complaint.
"The chef has been arrested and we are investigating the matter further. All the bank records and financial statements are being closely scrutinised to ascertain the facts," said an official close to the investigation. Meanwhile, Abhishek Trimukhe, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone 9) said that Cheung is being interrogated in connection to the claims and refused to comment any further.
According to police sources, the co-owner of Bastian restaurant, Ranjit Bindra, had approached police to lodge a complaint against Cheung and his father Chi Ping Cheung for cheating him in the name of investments. In his complaint, Bindra had said that Cheung and his father had offered Bindra to invest in the popular restaurant franchises in Chicago and Los Angeles. Subsequently, Bindra had paid USD 200,000, equivalent to ₹1.47 crore, in a series of transactions in 2015.
After Cheung's father expired, he had severed ties with the restaurant, and when Bindra tried contacting Cheung to get an update on the investments, the celebrity chef allegedly ignored the calls. Months of attempts to contact Cheung went in vain, which is when Bindra approached police. Acting on his complaint, Khar Police arrested Cheung from Delhi and brought him to Mumbai on Monday.
