Following directions of a local court, the Gurugram police have registered a case against former Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova, former Formula 1 racer Michael Schumacher and 11 others for fraud and criminal conspiracy at the Badshahpur police station.
The complainant, a Delhi Chattarpur resident, Shafali Agarwal, made allegations against the former duo sports personalities and the M/S Realtech Development and Infrastructure (INDIA) Pvt Ltd, developers.
She alleged in her complaint that "Sharapova was the signed promoter of the project and was also criminally conspired the buyers, she visited the site and promised the opening of a tennis academy and sports store in the project. She was also mentioned in the brochure promoting the project, and she also made false promises and had dinner parties with the buyers, and all this was done for the project which never took off from last 7 years".
She also alleged that Michael Schumacher World Tower as mentioned in the advertisements and brochure has been named after former Formula One racer Michael Schumacher.
In 2013, the complainant had booked an apartment in a project named Maria Sharapova and a tower in the project was named Michael Schumacher world tower. The project is located in sector-73.
The complaint said, the project was to be completed by 2016 but had never been completed in the past 7 years.
Earlier, Agarwal had also filed a complaint in a Gurugram court against the developers, Sharapova and Schumacher for duping her of around Rs 80 lakh.
She accused the duo of sports celebrities of being part of the fraud through their association and promotion of it.
The victim also said she approached the National Consumer Dispute Redressal commission by way of filling a consumer complaint in 2018.
"Wherein the court has issued notice to accused. She also filed a complaint in October 2020 bearing Diary No. 1580 in the Badshahpur police station, in the statement they mentioned (police) their grievances and requested the concerned authorities to register an F.I.R. but no action was taken in regards with the same," she alleged.
The complainants even wrote to the Director of Town and Country Planning (DTCP) by sending an email and seeking information but did not receive any reply.
Thereafter, the complainant also filed an RTI to Director and The Country Planning, Gurugram, Haryana for seeking information about the project registration details and updates, but to date, the complainants have not received any response as of now.
The Complainant got to know from sources that accused developers have not even acquired the project land anywhere in Sector - 73 they claim to make the project namely MARIA SHARAPOVA, also they don't even hold a licence from DTCP or permission from the concerned government authorities," she added.
Earlier, Agarwal had also filed a complaint in a Gurugram court against M/S Realtech Development and Infrastructure (INDIA) Pvt Ltd, other developers, Sharapova and Schumacher for duping her of around Rs 80 lakh.
The complaint alleged that only after the promotion of the project by these international sports stars and advertisements she had invested in the project.
She added that at that time the company officials had also made several lucrative promises which were found false at the time of booking.
“As per the court order, an FIR has been registered and we are investigating the matter. The matter will be investigated at all different angles,” Preet Pal Sangwan, ACP (crime) said.
Dinkar, station house officer (SHO) of the Badshahpur police station said, "We have yet to get more details about the matter. The FIR has been registered on the court directions.
The FIR has been registered under Sections 34 (common intention), 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 420 (cheating) of the IPC at the Badshahpur police station.