The Hindi television industry was recently shaken by a fraudulent advertising scam. Twenty-five prominent TV actors, including Ankita Lokhande, Tejasswi Prakash, Karan Kundra, and Adrija Roy, were allegedly cheated out of INR 1.48 crore in payments for featuring in an energy drink advertisement. The scam came to light after a celebrity manager representing the artistes filed a police complaint against five people at the Chembur police station against the Indore-based company. ‘For Me, You’ll Always Be the Winner’: Karan Kundrra’s Heartfelt Praise for Tejasswi Prakash Ahead of ‘Celebrity MasterChef’ Finale Will Melt TejRan Fans’ Hearts (Watch Video).

Ankita Lokhande, Tejasswi Prakash and Other TV Celebs Scammed

According to reports, the accused lured celebrities into endorsing an energy drink brand (Sky 63) by promising big cheques that never materialised. What seemed like a regular brand collaboration turned into a scam after payments, initially delayed, were eventually stopped altogether. According to the complaint, celebrity endorsement professional Roshan Binder was approached by someone in July 2024 seeking 25 celebrities to promote an energy drink brand. He had promised INR 10 lakh in advance, even showing a receipt as proof. However, no money was transferred. He was later asked to bring those celebrities for a promotional event in Mumbai's Dadar.

Tejasswi Prakash’s IG Post

 

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A post shared by Tejasswi Prakash (@tejasswiprakash)

The event featured nearly 100 celebrities, including Arjun Bijlani, Harsh Rajput, and Abhishek Bajaj. From the group, 25 artists were chosen for the promotional event with a promised payment of INR 1.32 crore. The accused later shared a photo of an INR 15 lakh cheque and assured that the payment would be released soon. After the promotional content was uploaded on social media handles, the accused further promised that the payment would be cleared within 35 days.

However, none of the payments materialized. Two cheques - one for INR 2 lakh and another for INR 90,000 bounced. Binder was then told that INR 22.5 lakh would be transferred from Dubai, which also didn’t happen. Bollywood Actors Shreyas Talpade and Alok Nath Among 11 Others Booked in ‘Multi-Level Marketing’ Scam in Haryana: Report.

Ankita Lokhande’s IG Post

Partial payments of INR 35 lakh were made to the celebs, including Bhumika Gurung, Jai Bhanushali, Ankita Lokhande, Sana Sultan, Kushal Tandon and Adrija Roy. Later, an INR 80 lakh cheque also bounced. The Chembur police have now booked five individuals - Tanish Cheda, Manu Srivastava, Faisal Rafiq, Abdul and Ritik Panchal for refusing payment to the celebrities.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 17, 2025 05:35 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).