Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya
Credit: PTI Photo
Indian cricketer and Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya's stepbrother was arrested on Monday for allegedly cheating him and his brother in the course of business dealings.
Stepbrother Vaibhav Pandya, 37, allegedly diverted around Rs 4.3 crore from the partnership firm they had in Mumbai, causing Hardik and his brother Kunal to lose out, The Times of India reported officials of the Economic Offences Wing of the Mumbai police as saying.
Vaibhav has now been charged with forgery and cheating.
The three had set up a polymer business together in 2021 and the terms of the partnership dictated that Hardik and Kunal would put in 40 per cent of the capital each and Vaibhav would pitch in 20 per cent while handling daily operations. The profits were to be distributed in the same ratio.
Vaibhav, however, set up another firm which plied the same trade but did not inform Hardik or his brother, which was a violation of their partnership agreement.
The publication cited a source saying that profits of the original partnership dropped around this time, resulting in a loss of Rs 3 crore. Vaibhav had secretly increased his own profit from 20 to 33.3 per cent, leading to a loss for Hardik and Kunal, as per the TOI source.
Vaibhav also allegedly moved lakhs from the partnership firm's account to his own, taking around Rs 1 crore. When Hardik confronted him over the matter, he allegedly threatened he would tarnish the cricketer's reputation.
Pandya's Mumbai Indians take on Faf du Plessis' Royal Challengers Bengaluru today at the Wankhede Stadium where the third team from the bottom will try and turn their luck around against the second team from the bottom.