Alia Bhatt's former assistant arrested for allegedly cheating her of Rs 76.9 lakh

Vedika Shetty (32) reportedly forged signatures, mishandled finances, and went into hiding until her arrest in Bengaluru. The entire matter came to light when Alia Bhatt’s mother Soni Razdan filed a complaint with Juhu police in January this year.

The alleged fraud

Vedika Shetty who was employed in Bhatt's production company, Eternal Sunshine Productions Private Limited, reportedly forged signatures and mishandled the actor's finances. According to police sources, Vedika Shetty worked as Bhatt's personal assistant from 2021 to 2024.

During this time, she handled the actor's financial documents and payments and planned her schedule.

Also read: Explainer: Why TSeries' Divya Khossla accused Karan Johar and Alia Bhatt of 'unethical practices'

The fraud was allegedly committed between May 2022 and August 2024. Investigations have revealed that Vedika Shetty allegedly prepared fake bills, got Alia Bhatt to sign them and siphoned off the money, police sources have said.

Vedika Shetty allegedly used professional tools to make these fake bills look authentic. She told the actor that the expenses were for her travel, meetings and other related arrangements

After Bhatt signed them, the amounts were transferred to her friend’s account, who would then route the money back to Vedika Shetty.

On the run

After a case was registered under sections relating to criminal breach of trust and cheating, the police started looking for Vedika Shetty.

She had been absconding and kept changing her location. She was tracked down to Rajasthan, Karnataka, Pune and then to Bengaluru. Eventually, Juhu police caught up with her in Bengaluru and arrested her.