Two men, Ajay Kanojiya and Abhay Shankar, have been accused of carrying out a fraudulent scheme where they posed as employees of an online streaming service, leading to the alleged embezzlement of ₹23 lakh from Vijay Mulchandani, a content producer who owns Yashasvi films.
The incident began a year ago when Mulchandani was actively pitching his upcoming 10-episode web series to various streaming platforms. Kanojiya and Shankar were introduced to him during this process, presenting themselves as employees of a
streaming platform. They claimed they could help Mulchandani secure a deal for his series.
According to the complaint filed with the police, the accused duo enticed Mulchandani by suggesting that the rights to his show could be sold for a substantial ₹2 crore. To make this happen, they insisted that certain payments needed to be made to employees of the streaming platform to ensure the promotion and exposure of the web series to higher-ups within the company. In addition, they requested an impressive ₹80 lakh as their own commission once the deal was finalized.
To establish credibility, the fraudsters went to great lengths. They introduced a fake executive of the streaming platform to Mulchandani, who even visited his office. Furthermore, they used a fabricated email address that appeared authentic, sending emails that resembled official communication from the platform’s employees. Through these emails, they sent Mulchandani a forged contract, stating that his series had been valued at ₹2.8 crore by the platform.
In an attempt to seal the deal, the accused managed to persuade Mulchandani to provide them with a hard disc containing all the episodes of his web series. He complied, handing over the material in October.
Ultimately, they managed to extract a total of ₹23 lakh from Mulchandani through these deceptive tactics.
However, suspicions were raised when the promised contract signing did not materialize. In January, Mulchandani received an email from the fraudulent email address, stating that the streaming platform was no longer interested in his series. When confronted, Kanojiya and Shankar could not provide satisfactory explanations for their actions.
Mulchandani took it upon himself to investigate further and discovered that his series had never been pitched to or viewed by any executives at the streaming platform, despite the significant payments he had made.
Frustrated and realizing he had been swindled, Mulchandani lodged an official written complaint with the police. Subsequently, a First Information Report (FIR) was filed against the accused.
If the whole episode is true then it is unfortunate and we hope Vijay Mulchandani gets justice.