The stepbrother of cricketer Hardik Pandya has been arrested for defrauding him of more than ₹4 million in business

Cricket player Hardik Pandya’s stepbrother, Vaibhav Pandya, has been taken into custody by the Mumbai police for allegedly defrauding the all-round player and his brother Krunal out of over Rs 4.25 crore.

Vaibhav and the Pandya brothers established a polymer business firm in 2021, and Vaibhav was given the responsibility of overseeing day-to-day activities, according to the Economic Offences Wing (EOW).

According to reports, Vaibhav broke the two brothers’ agreement by forming his own proprietorship company in the same industry (under a different name) and keeping the other brothers in the dark.

Later, it is said that Vaibhav transferred funds to his own company from the LLP (limited liability partnership) firm. The partnership firm saw a decline in profit over time. Additionally, Vaibhav is accused of deceitfully raising his profit percentage in the LLP firm beyond what was fair without disclosing this to the two brothers. For this, he purportedly falsified the Pandya brothers’ signatures on an LLP agreement,” a press-tipped investigating officer claimed.

The Mumbai Indians captain and Krunal Pandya found out about this, and one of them went up to Vaibhav. Vaibhav then warned him of serious repercussions, and the officer continued. Along with other offenses under the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Vaibhav has been charged with cheating, criminal breach of trust, forgery, criminal conspiracy, and criminal intimidation.

On April 8, the Mumbai police’s EOW detained Vaibhav and brought him before a judge, who gave him until April 12 to remain in police custody.

According to an officer, the investigators believe that more people were involved in helping Vaibhav commit the crime, and they plan to make more arrests after their involvement in the case is established.