Vivek Oberoi among victims of OTT scam: Everything about it
What's the story
The talk of the B-town for the past few days has been the OTT scam, in which unexpected developments have been surfacing daily.
On Friday, the third arrest was made in the case.
Some big celebrities such as actor Vivek Oberoi have been cheated through this scam, and the police have been unearthing several shocking revelations.
Here, we explain the full case.
Accused
Who all have been arrested so far?
Following tipoffs and investigations, the cyber-crime police on Friday arrested the third accused in the case, actor/producer Akshat Raj Saluja.
The actor is known for his role in movies PM Narendra Modi, 31st October, etc.
Earlier, the cyber police had arrested two individuals identified as Rajat Kumar Mourya and Sanjay Saha.
Currently, they are on the lookout for a woman identified as Radhika.
Scam
How did the issue come to light?
This whole issue came to light when Maan Singh, a film producer from Mumbai filed a complaint.
He had signed a pact with Mourya to sell his film on OTT platforms.
According to the pact, Mourya was to be paid Rs. 10 lakh for selling each film to digital platforms.
Singh also showed documents of films that he apparently sold on various platforms.
Details
How did Mourya convince Singh?
The deal was finalized after Mourya claimed in January 2021 that the production label Panorama Studios has shown interest to buy Singh's film for Rs. 4cr.
To note, the production banner is known for making popular movies such as Drishyam, Pyaar Ka Punchnama, and Raid to name a few.
So, Singh started working on his film titled MD Platinum after seeing the documents produced.
Claim
Here's how much Mourya extracted from Singh
Under the pretext of selling his movie, Mourya slowly started to extract money from Singh.
What started with Rs. 2.50 lakh as a payment for the officials in Panorama Studios, led to massive payments.
Mourya also extracted money suggesting that the story of MD Platinum needs to be tweaked.
He was paid Rs. 48 lakh, after which Singh started to sense something was amiss.
Information
Other celebrities involved in the case
Producer Gaurang Doshi (Aankhen) and actor Vivek Oberoi were also reportedly targeted.
Doshi revealed that Oberoi was the one who introduced him to the gang.
Doshi was cheated of Rs. 1cr, while Oberoi lost Rs. 2-3cr.
Doshi alleged that the gang used names of actors like Shah Rukh Khan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, etc., to usurp money from the celebrities.