Udaipur/Mumbai: Prominent Bollywood filmmaker Vikram Bhatt and his wife Shwetambari Bhatt, who were arrested last week in a Rs 30 crore fraud case, were remanded to judicial custody as their bail plea on medical grounds was rejected on Tuesday, Hindustan Times reported.
“The court has ordered to keep them (Vikram Bhatt and Shwetambari Bhatt) in judicial custody… They will now be sent to the Central Jail in Udaipur…” DSP Suryaveer Singh told ANI.
The case stems from a complaint filed by Dr. Ajay Murdia, an Udaipur-based doctor and founder of the Indira Group of Companies and Indira IVF, who accused Bhatt, his wife and six others of cheating him under the pretext of producing films.
According to the complaint, as cited by Hindustan Times in one of its reports, Bhatt and his wife allegedly promised that if Murdia financed an initial amount of Rs 7 crore and provided further funding, they could produce four films for Rs 47 crore, assuring him that these projects would yield profits of Rs 100-200 crore.
However, Murdia claimed that after that, the accused siphoned off more than Rs 30 crore by giving false assurances about the film. The accused, as cited in several media reports, used fake bills and documents to siphon off the funds.
The accused have denied wrongdoing. Bhatt has called the FIR “misleading” and suggested that police were misinformed, saying key allegations in the complaint were incorrect.
Investigation is ongoing.
