Actor and television show presenter Samir Kochhar has filed a complaint with the Andheri police alleging that a couple cheated him and his friend of Rs. 1.03 crore after they made advance payments towards the purchase of flats for office purposes at Bandra in Bombay in 2020. The police registered an FIR on November 21, 2023 against Pronit Nath and his wife, Amisha. The couple, who build and sell flats, allegedly collected Rs. 58.50 lakh from Samir and Rs. 44.70 lakh from his friend, Varun Bangera, after they signed an MoU on March 30, 2021 that they would pay the final instalment on completion of the work. As per understanding, the Nath couple was to construct a four-storey building on a plot of land at Bandra Pali village.
The couple, who reside at Andheri East in Bombay, was booked under IPC sections 409 (criminal breach of trust by a public servant or by banker, merchant or agent), 420 (cheating) and 120(B) (criminal conspiracy). Samir and Varun received a WhatsApp message from Nath in June 2023, informing them that he could not sell the flats to them.
In his complaint, Kochhar said that they made the advance payments through cheques in 2021 and they received a message on June 3, 2022 from Nath, informing them that the construction of the building would be complete in three months. However, on June 23, 2023, Kochhar received a message from Nath that he was planning to use the said flats himself. To Samir’s utter shock, Nath sent them a notice on May 28, 2023, informing them that he was not willing to sell them the flats.
Samir Kochhar and Varun Bangera approached the court to get the sale deed completed. It was on July 26, 2023 that Kochhar learned in the court from Nath’s lawyer that the said flats had been sold to one Sachet Pandey through an MoU dated February 7, 2023.