A well-planned fraud involving over ₹1.41 crore has come to light at an advertising and influencer marketing agency based in Mumbai’s Andheri area. The accused allegedly siphoned off money from their own company by floating fake advertising projects using the names of high-profile celebrities such as cricketer KL Rahul, actress Athiya Shetty and Bollywood actor Arshad Warsi.
Police have registered a case against three employees of the agency for allegedly withdrawing company funds through forged invoices. According to the police, the accused created fictitious projects, prepared fake bills and used forged documents to make the payments appear genuine.
Preliminary investigations have revealed that the accused misused the names of well-known celebrities and fabricated advertising campaigns. Fake invoices, forged signatures and dummy email IDs were allegedly created to facilitate the fraudulent transactions.
The three accused have been identified as Rishabh Surekha, Yash Nagarkoti and Aashay Shastri. Police said the trio allegedly acted in collusion, abused the trust reposed in them by the company and siphoned off funds by raising fake bills in the name of brand and celebrity endorsement projects.
A case of cheating has been registered under Section 318(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). A senior police officer said that the financial transactions are being scrutinised in detail and digital evidence is being collected. No arrests have been made so far.
The complainant, 28-year-old Jenny Anthony, is an employee of the advertising firm. In her complaint, she stated that the company’s head office is located in Haryana, while its branch operates from Andheri West in Mumbai. Accused Rishabh Surekha joined the company in July 2023 as Senior Manager (Client Servicing – Influencer Marketing). His responsibilities included branding, influencer coordination and project operations, and he had direct access to the finance team and the company’s CEO for project-related approvals.
Police said that taking advantage of this position, Surekha also allegedly obtained an interest-free loan of ₹15 lakh from the company, citing his mother’s medical treatment.
As per the FIR, in August 2024, Surekha, with the alleged assistance of Aashay Shastri, claimed to have secured an advertisement project for Havells featuring actress Dia Mirza. The company was informed that ₹31 lakh was to be paid to the production house; however, it later emerged that the production house head had been told the deal was worth ₹62 lakh, raising suspicions and leading to the detection of the fraud.
Investigators further said that the accused misused the company’s official email IDs and falsely represented themselves as authorised representatives while communicating with talent management agencies and clients. It is alleged that Athiya Shetty’s forged signatures were used and a fake email ID was created in the name of Arshad Warsi to show non-existent projects.
Further investigation is underway.