Television scriptwriter arrested for duping film producer of Rs 2.65 Crore

MUMBAI: Mahesh Pandey, a television scriptwriter and director known for the show "Kasautii Zindagi Kay," was arrested on Wednesday for allegedly duping film producer Jatin Sethi of Rs2.65 crore. The arrest came two months after Sethi filed a complaint with the Amboli police on May 10, leading to the registration of a first information report (FIR) against Pandey, his wife, and three brothers.

According to Amboli police senior inspector Jaywant Shinde, investigations revealed that Pandey created a fake email ID of Prasar Bharati in 2023 to deceive Sethi into believing that payment for a serial aired on Doordarshan was yet to be received. "Pandey was in police custody for two days. He is currently sent to judicial custody on Thursday. He violated the contract that was made with Sethi and created fake email id of Prasar Bharati to dupe," said Shinde.

In his complaint, Sethi said that Pandey breached the terms and conditions of an agreement signed between their companies. Pandey's firm owed Sethi Rs 2.65 crore but kept making excuses to delay the payment, despite having received the funds from Prasar Bharati for the serial they produced and aired.

Sethi discovered the fraud when he contacted the concerned party and learned that they had already paid Pandey last year. "In the FIR, Sethi said Pandey was delaying payment, citing various reasons, and created a fake email ID to show that he had sent a few emails to the broadcaster for payment, but it was getting delayed. However, Sethi learned that the mails that was shown to him were fake and it was created by Pandey to dupe despite receiving the money," a police officer explained.

In addition to Pandey, the police have also booked his wife and three brothers under Indian Penal Code sections 34 (common intention), 406 (criminal breach of trust), and 420 (cheating) for their alleged involvement in the offense.