Mumbai Indians Captain Hardik Pandya Cheated Of Rs 4.3 Crore, Stepbrother Arrested

hardik pandya stepbrother vaibhav pandya arrested for cheating mumbai indians captain

Mumbai: Cricketers Hardik Pandya and Krunal Pandya were cheated of Rs 4.3 crore in business partnership by their stepbrother Vaibhav Pandya. The Mumbai Police on Wednesday arrested Vaibhav on charges of cheating and forgery.

The stepbrother, Vaibhav Pandya (37), allegedly diverted the amount from the partnership firm based in Mumbai, causing a loss to the cricketer and his brother, said officials of Economic Offences Wing of Mumbai police. Vaibhav has been charged with cheating and forgery.

The three brothers had jointly set up a polymer business in the year 2021. The terms of partnership were that the cricketer and his brother infuse 40 per cent of capital each while the stepbrother would chip in with 20 per cent and would handle daily operations.

The profits were to distributed in the same ratio. Later, the Vaibhav set up another firm dealing in the same trade without informing Hardik and Krunal, in violation of the partnership agreement.

“Around this time, profits of the original partnership dropped, causing a loss of Rs.3 crore,” TOI quoted a source. The stepbrother secretly increased his own profit from 20 per cent to 33.3 per cent, causing loss to Hardik and Krunal.

The stepbrother allegedly diverted lakhs from the partnership firm’s account to his own, taking Rs 1 crore. When Hardik confronted him, he allegedly threatened to tarnish his reputation.

The Pandya brothers, known for their cricketing prowess, have not publicly commented on the matter yet.

Hardik and Krunal In IPL

Both Hardik and Krunal are currently busy with Indian Premier League (IPL) where Hardik Pandya is leading the Mumbai Indians and Krunal is playing for the Lucknow Super Giants.

Hardik sustained an ankle injury during the 2023 World Cup and had been recovering from the same. Additionally, he also faced backlash after taking over captainship for MI. The all-rounder had a tough start as captain as MI faced three successive losses before registering their first win last week, defeating the Delhi Capitals by 29 runs.

Mumbai Indians will face Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the IPL 2024 match on Thursday (April 11). The fifth league stage match of the ongoing season of the cash-rich league for MI is scheduled to take place at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. MI won the last match played at this iconic venue on Sunday by 29 runs against the Delhi Capitals. The Hardik Pandya-led side would like to come up with another big show on Thursday and secure their second win in a row in front of home fans.

While MI is coming into match No. 25 on the back of securing a win in the last match, RCB has suffered hat-tricks of defeats since getting the better of the Punjab Kings by four wickets in Bengaluru on March 25. The Virat Kohli-starrer side will be desperate to end the losing streak against the star-studded Mumbai team and get their campaign back on track.