Kelvin Cheung, the chef of Mumbai's celeb-favourite restaurant Bastian who had all of Bollywood's top stars from Tiger Shroff to Ananya Panday eating out of his hands, has landed in trouble.
Mumbai police arrested the popular Canada-born chef on Monday for allegedly cheating a Bandra-based seafood restaurant's co-owner to the tune of US $ 200,000 (Rs. 1.47 crore). However, the chef has denied the allegations.
Kelvin and his father Chi Ping Cheung have been booked under sections 420 (cheating) and 406 (criminal breach of trust) of the Indian Penal Code by the Khar Police Station. A resident of Pali Hill, and co-owner of Bastian, Ranjit Bindra, complained to the police on Cheung.
Somnath Chasker, the sub-inspector of Khar police station who is part of the investigation team, told HT, "Cheung was arrested in Delhi and was brought to Mumbai today morning on transit remand. He is being produced in the court in the cheating case."
When Bindra realised that Chef had duped him
According to the police, when the two were working together at Bastian, Cheung persuaded his business partner to give him $200,000 on the pretext of investing in restaurant franchises in Chicago and Los Angeles, with the help of his father in 2015.
The payment was made in multiple transactions through a hospitality firm. Cheung abruptly withdrew his association with the restaurant last year, and according to the complaint, he started ignoring Bindra's calls.
Recently, Bindra came to know that Cheung has returned to India and hoping to get back his money, he approached the local Mumbai police and registered a complaint. The two were involved in a public spat two years ago, following which Cheung had quit the restaurant.
He was arrested in Delhi and brought back to Mumbai. Police may seek Cheung's police custody for questioning him about the money transactions.
Chef had earlier denied charges and said he wasn't part of any deal
Speaking to the Hindustan Times earlier, Cheung had said: "I have not received any details about the case from Bastian or the police, so I can't comment on the same. I can state that I wasn't part of any deal with Bastian regarding their investment deal. I haven't signed any contracts with them and I haven't received any payments from them as alleged by them."
Bastian is a popular restaurant in Bandra, Mumbai with branches in Chicago and Los Angeles.
