Mumbai Police arrest Hardik Pandya's step brother for alleged Rs 4 crore cheating

In an alleged case of cheating, the Economic Offence Wing of Mumbai police have arrested Vaibhav Pandya, stepbrother of cricketer Hardik Pandya on the charges of criminal breach of trust, criminal intimidation, criminal conspiracy, forgery and other relevant sections.

Vaibhav allegedly diverted around Rs 4.3 crore from the partnership firm, causing a loss to Hardik Pandya and his brother Krunal Pandya, said Mumbai Police.

Back in 2021, the three brothers had jointly set up a polymer business. The terms of the partnership were that the cricketer and his brother infuse 40 per cent of capital each while the stepbrother would chip in with 20 per cent and would handle daily operations. The profits were to distributed in the same ratio.


The trouble started when Vaibhav started another firm dealing in the same trade, but without informing the cricketer and his brother, in violation of the partnership agreement.

"Around this time, profits of the original partnership dropped, causing a loss of Rs 3 crore. The stepbrother secretly increased his own profit from 20% to 33.3%, causing loss to the cricketer and his brother," the official said.

The official added that the new company caused a loss of approximately Rs 3 crore to the polymer business.

A complaint was lodged by the accountant of the cricketer at the Khar police station on Monday, based on which a case was registered and it was transferred to the EOW.

As the involvement of Vaibhav Pandya came to light in the crime, he was placed under arrest by the EOW officials on the same day, he said. He was produced in a local court, which remanded him in police custody till Friday, he said.

(with ToI inputs)