The CEO of a Gurgaon-based firm, along with a former Shikhar Dhawan employee, has been implicated in a FIR for allegedly defrauding the ex-India cricketer and illegally utilising his images for sponsorships at the Asia Cup 2025 earlier this year in Dubai.
A representative of Shikhar Dhawan’s DaOne Group lodged a complaint, which prompted the case to be opened.
According to the accusation, the two falsely represented themselves as Dhawan’s authorised agents and fraudulently renewed an expired endorsement arrangement with a brand for financial gain. The former employee, who now owns Elevate Athletes Creators Ecosystem, is accused of misleading clients by using his past relationship with Dhawan.
Dhawan, who attended the recent Asia Cup, was allegedly surprised to see his images and videos prominently featured on stadium screens praising the brand despite having no active contract with the company. Da One Group later learnt that the deal had been renewed for a year by Elevate Athletes and Parthtech Developers in an agreement signed on March 10, 2025. Parthtech paid INR 40 lakh for the prolongation, which the accused reportedly pocketed totally.
According to the complaint, Dhawan’s initial agreement with Parthtech was valid from April 16, 2024 to April 15, 2025 and was signed by the ex-employee while he was the CEO of DaOne Group. His authority was restricted by a board resolution and ended when he departed the company in September 2024 and the contract expired in April 2025.
“After receiving the complaint, we have registered the FIR. the individuals concerned will be called to join the investigation and appropriate legal action will be taken against them,” a senior police official said as quoted by Times of India.
However, the ex-employee allegedly continued presenting himself publicly as Dhawan’s authorized representative. The complaint further accused the duo of producing a forged representation agreement dated December 20, 2024, to falsely claim that Elevate Athletes had exclusive rights to manage Dhawan’s endorsements.
“Since we all are from the same industry, it cannot happen that we endorsed him without informing him,” said the startup founder.
Da One Group also expressed concern that the accused may still possess forged documents capable of misleading clients and urged the police to recover them immediately. Based on the complaint, an FIR has been registered under sections 316(2) (criminal breach of trust), 318(4) (cheating), 336(3) (forgery), 338 (forgery of valuable documents), 340 (using forged documents as genuine), and 61 (criminal conspiracy) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
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