Mumbai: The Bombay high court has directed the Additional Commissioner of Police of the Mira-Bhayandar Vasai-Virar (MBVV) police to probe the allegation of cheating made by the dance group V Unbeatable, which recently won the America’s Got Talent: The Champions, against their manager.
The troupe had approached the high court, through advocate Shravan Giri, alleging that their manager Om Prakash Chauhan cheated them of their prize money and siphoned off the amount. He not only embezzled the prize money from their America’s Got Talent victory , but also from nearly 300 other shows that they performed.
Their plea claims that they approached the police on July 24, however, the police refused to register an FIR against Chauhan. Despite escalating the issue to the DCP on July 25, no action was taken by the police.
On the contrary, the plea alleges, that when the troupe members, their parents and guardians went to Chauhan’s studio to demand their dues, the police officers used criminal force against them.
The dance group became popular as a runner-up on the reality show Dance Plus, has alleged that they did not receive the prize money or performance fees as the manager allegedly routed the money into his personal bank account.
They claimed to have received meagre payments ranging from Rs 3,000 to Rs 5,000. It claimed that during their 60-day stay in the U S for America’s Got Talent, they were supposed to receive a $25 daily allowance, which they never received. Additionally, they also alleged that during the COVID-19 lockdown, Chauhan made videos soliciting donations for the group and pocketed the funds.
