Stand-up comic and thespian Kapil Sharma divulged to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) that automobile artisan Dilip Chhabria, embroiled in allegations of defrauding numerous luminaries, endeavored to shift culpability onto him for the non-delivery of a bespoke vehicle he had commissioned, resorting to illicit methodologies to extract pecuniary resources from him.

The ED, as part of its chargesheet in a money laundering lawsuit against Chhabria, has documented the testimony of Mohammed Hamid, the legal proxy of Sharma.

A specialized Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) tribunal, presiding over the lawsuit, officially acknowledged the chargesheet on Wednesday and issued summonses to Chhabria and six other implicated individuals.

They have been directed to appear before the tribunal on February 26.

The ED’s case is predicated on three First Information Reports (FIRs) filed against the defendants, including a fraud lawsuit initiated by Sharma.

During his deposition before the ED, Sharma’s legal representative expounded that Sharma, the solitary proprietor of K9 Productions, had engaged Chhabria for the procurement of a personalized mobile dressing room in December 2016.

Consequently, a pact was formalized between K9 Productions and Dilip Chhabria Design Private Limited (DCDPL) in March 2017 for the delivery of the aforementioned personalized mobile dressing room for a sum of Rs 4.5 crore (exclusive of taxes), he articulated.

In accordance with the agreed-upon terms, a remittance of Rs 5.31 crore (inclusive of taxes) was remitted by Sharma’s production entity, the legal representative elucidated.

Hamid asserted that DCDPL neither fulfilled the promised mobile dressing room delivery to Sharma nor issued any refunds.

When inquired about the delay in the mobile dressing room’s fabrication, Chhabria informed Hamid, who had journeyed to the automobile artisan’s Pune establishment to scrutinize the conveyance, that all the requisite materials for its interior had been procured and warehoused. Chhabria delineated his strained financial predicament and requirement for financial infusion, as relayed by Sharma’s legal representative.

Subsequently, Chhabria forwarded an additional estimate for Rs 54,20,800 to Sharma and solicited the requisite funds for the vehicle’s delivery.

The sudden solicitation for additional funds aroused suspicions in Sharma’s mind. When interrogated about his intentions to solicit funds from the actor, Chhabria adopted a confrontational stance, the testimony indicated.

The defendants commenced dispatching email correspondences to Sharma, falsely attributing blame to him for the belated inspection of the mobile dressing room and citing it as the rationale for the delayed delivery of the vehicle, the statement revealed.

Discerning his intent to defraud, Sharma initiated legal recourse and dispatched a demand for repayment notice to the automobile artisan’s company on April 18, 2019, as articulated by Sharma’s legal representative.

However, Chhabria resorted to a plethora of illicit methods, including arbitrary parking fees for the undelivered mobile dressing room and seeking a loan for a sister entity (Mis DC Motor Works Pvt Ltd) to remunerate vendors, in an attempt to extort funds from Sharma, the testimony expounded.

Sharma subsequently lodged a police complaint against Chhabria and his cohorts, the statement disclosed.

The ED asserted that the defendants and the corporation knowingly engaged in illicit methods for personal enrichment and inflicted financial losses on all the aggrieved parties “to the tune of Rs 18 13 crore,” which it classified as the proceeds of crime.

Citing financial trails, the ED contended that the funds were directly or indirectly credited to the bank accounts of the implicated corporation. It was established through financial trails that the illicitly procured proceeds of crime were laundered via unlawful methods by principal defendant Chhabria, the ED appended.