Kapil Sharma claims that car designer Dilip Chhabria “illegally extracted money.”

Actor and comedian Kapil Sharma reported to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) that car designer Dilip Chhabria, who was imprisoned in 2020 for deception and fraud, had used illicit methods to get money from him. He also claimed that the owner of DC Motors had attempted to place the blame for the non-delivery of a customized vehicle elsewhere.

Mohammed Hamid, Sharma’s authorized agent, provided a statement that the ED recorded for inclusion in the chargesheet it filed against Chhabria in connection with a money laundering investigation.

On Wednesday, a special PMLA court overseeing the case took notice of the chargesheet and summoned Chhabria and the other six accused parties.

On February 26, they are expected to appear before it.

Three FIRs against the defendants, including one that Sharma filed for cheating, form the basis of the ED case.

The actor’s manager told the ED that in December 2016, Sharma—the only owner of K9 Productions—had contacted Chhabria about buying a customized vanity vehicle.

Following that, he added, a contract was signed in March 2017 between K9 Productions and Dilip Chhabria Design Private Limited (DCDPL) for the delivery of a customized vanity van for Rs 4.5 crore (taxes excluded).

The statement said that Sharma’s production company paid Rs 5.31 crore (including taxes) in accordance with the conditions that were agreed upon.

Hamid said that neither the promised vanity vehicle nor any financial reimbursement had been given to Sharma by DCDPL.

When Hamid visited the automobile designer’s Pune factory to see the vanity van, Chhabria informed him that all of the inside materials had been bought and stored in a warehouse. This was in response to a question on the reason for the delay in the project. Chhabria discussed his precarious financial situation and his need for money, according to the actor’s agent.

Later, Chhabria requested payment from Sharma for the delivery of the car in an extra quote at Rs 54,20,800.

Sharma became suspicious at the abrupt request for more money. Chhabria reacted angrily when asked whether he intended to take money from the actor, according to the statement.

The accused began corresponding with Sharma by mail, allegedly falsely accusing him of failing to check the vanity van in a timely manner and stating this as the reason the vehicle was not delivered.

The actor’s representation said in the statement that Sharma started legal action when he became aware of his plan to cheat and submitted a notice of recovery to the automobile designer’s company on April 18, 2019.

But in order to get money from Sharma, Chhabria used a number of unlawful methods, the report stated. These included charging arbitrary parking fees for the vanity van that was never delivered and applying for a loan to enable a sister company, Miss DC Motor Works Pvt Ltd, to pay suppliers.

According to the statement, Sharma then filed a police complaint against Chhabria and his friends.

According to the ED, the accused individuals and the firm engaged in illicit activities with knowledge for personal benefit, causing losses to all complainants “to the tune of Rs 18 13 crore,” which it referred to as the proceeds of crime.

The sum was either directly or indirectly credited to the bank accounts of the accused firm, according to the ED, which cited money traces. Money trails indicate that principal accused Chhabria utilized illicit methods to launder the profits of crime, the ED said.

On December 28, 2020, Chhabria was taken into custody by the Mumbai Police Crime Intelligence Unit team after they discovered that his company, Dilip Chhabria (DC) Designs Pvt Ltd, had purportedly obtained loans from a number of non-banking financial companies (NBFC) by pretending to be buyers of DC sports cars, specifically Avantis.

The comedian said in 2021 that Chhabria had taken Rs 5.5 crore from him to create his vanity vehicle, but had never delivered.