Former Russian tennis player Maria Sharapova and car racer Michael Schumacher have been charged in Gurgaon, Haryana. They were charged with fraud and criminal conspiracy. The case was registered on a complaint filed by a woman from Delhi.
The complaint was lodged by Shefali Agarwal, a resident of Chhatarpur Mini Farm in Delhi. According to the complaint, the woman had booked an apartment in a project named after Sharapova. One of the towers in the project was named after Schumacher. The project was in Sector 73, Gurgaon. It was announced that the apartment would be handed over by 2016. But the project was not completed. According to the complaint, the international celebrities were part of the scam through promotions and so on.
Shefali Gurugram had filed a complaint in the court against Realtech Development and Infrastructure (India) Pvt Ltd, Maria Sharapova and Schumacher. He had allegedly booked the apartment and defrauded her of Rs 80 lakh.
I came to know about the project through advertisements. The woman alleged that the developers had given pictures of the project and false promises. Sheffield said Maria Sharapova had promised to visit the site and open a tennis academy and sportswear store.
The FIR was registered at Badshahpur police station under IPC 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 420 (fraud). “The FIR has been registered as per the court order and the investigation is continuing,” said Inspector Dinkar.