Mumbai: Versova police, on July 25, booked an individual for allegedly cheating a 76-year-old acting institute owner out of Rs. 42.96 lakh. Prashant Shriwastav was a student of the complainant and later worked in the same institute as a manager. Since Prashant was performing well, Kapoor hired his brother Pravin and assigned him responsibility for the accounts department. However, Pravin Shriwastav allegedly cheated Kapoor, and when Kapoor confronted him, he fled.
About The Case
According to the FIR, the complainant, Kapoor, resides in Malad West and runs an acting institute. Approximately 40 students are currently enrolled at the 'Kishor Namit Acting School', located at Char Bungalow, Andheri West. In 2010, Shriwastav approached Kapoor for the course and completed a six-month training programme. After finishing the course, he aspired to work as an actor. Until he could find acting work, he requested Kapoor for any kind of job.
Kapoor offered him the position of manager at his institute. Shriwastav performed well. Meanwhile, in 2015, Prashant’s father passed away and his brother Pravin came to Mumbai seeking work. On Prashant’s recommendation, Kapoor agreed to hire Pravin and entrusted him with the entire accounts department in 2016. Kapoor trusted Pravin and provided him with the bank account details, passwords, debit and credit cards of himself, his wife, his son, and the institute for handling financial transactions.
Pravin worked efficiently until 2020. However, in January 2023, he failed to release advertisements for the institute in various media houses but falsely claimed to Kapoor that he had done so. When Kapoor inquired further, he discovered that Pravin had not placed any advertisements. On confrontation, Pravin claimed he didn’t have sufficient funds at the time. This raised Kapoor’s suspicion.
Later in August 2023, Kapoor was contacted by various departments regarding unpaid dues, including internet, stationery, water, electricity bills, credit card bills, and bungalow rent – amounting to a total of Rs. 15 lakh. When Kapoor asked Pravin to produce the account records, Pravin was unable to do so. His mobile phone then remained switched off.
Upon checking the bank statements, Kapoor discovered that Pravin had withdrawn and transferred money from his and his wife’s accounts between 2021 and 2023 through several small transactions. In total, Rs. 42.96 lakh had been siphoned off.
Eventually, Kapoor filed a complaint against Pravin. The police registered the case under Sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 408 (criminal breach of trust by clerk or servant), and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code.
