Farhan Akhtar's family driver booked for ₹12L credit card fraud
What's the story
Bollywood actor-filmmaker Farhan Akhtar's family driver has been accused of defrauding the household out of lakhs. The driver, who also worked for Akhtar's mother and noted screenwriter Honey Irani, allegedly misused multiple credit cards in the actor's name. As per the police, the fraud was not carried out alone by the driver. Here's what happened.
Fraud details
How the fraud was carried out
The accused driver, identified as Naresh Singh (35), allegedly swiped the credit cards at a petrol pump and pocketed cash instead of using them for fuel. This resulted in inflated expenses and bogus entries for Akhtar's family. The fraud was discovered on Wednesday, October 1, when Irani's manager, Diya Bhatia (36), noticed discrepancies in fuel expenses. A Maruti vehicle with a 35L diesel tank was recorded to have received 621L of fuel, raising suspicions.
Investigation progress
Driver's evasive responses raised suspicions
When questioned about the fuel expenses, Singh allegedly gave evasive answers, claiming he had used only one card. However, Bhatia's review of the card statements revealed that three different cards had been used. She also found that vehicle oil had been bought for a car the family had sold seven years earlier. Later, during a meeting with Irani, Singh confessed to the fraud and revealed he obtained the cards in 2022 from Akhtar's former driver, Santosh Kumar.
Fraud details
The driver was in collusion with the petrol pump employee
Singh confessed to carrying out the fraudulent transactions in collusion with a petrol pump employee. The accused petrol pump employee, identified as Arun Singh (52), reportedly handed cash to Naresh after deducting a share of around ₹1,000-1,500 per transaction. The total amount involved in the alleged scam is approximately ₹12 lakh.
Legal proceedings
Was anyone else involved?
The Bandra Police have registered a case against Arun and Singh under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita's Sections 318 (criminal breach of trust), 418 (cheating), and 3(5) (general provisions). Investigations are underway to find out if anyone else was involved in this scam and to recover the misappropriated funds.