How failed actors cheated a man of Rs 14L on pretext of launching his daughter

The accused have been identified as 47-year-old Apurva Ashwin Dawda alias Armaan Arjun Kapoor alias Dr. Amit alias Arjun Kapoor of Pune and his 26-year-old wife Natasha Kapoor alias Nazish Memon alias Meghana of Mumbai.

Cyber police said the duo conducted ramp shows in famous malls on the pretext of selecting children for modeling and providing them a chance to act in ads alongside famous film stars and cricketers. They also canvassed their criminal deeds on their website www.cosmopolitanmodels.co.in.

The accused managed to convince the parents to deposit money into multiple accounts. They convinced them it is a refundable deposit for costumes and other accessories, etc.

On January 4, 2023, police received a complaint from Gopalakrishnan Krishnanand, of Madinaguda stating that he visited Sarath Capital Mall at Kondapur with his family on December 11, 2022, to celebrate his daughter’s birthday.

Cosmopolitan Models agency (website: www.cosmopolitanmodels.co.in) was conducting a ramp walk to select children models. They asked the complainant if they are interested. They took the mobile number and shared a coupon code on WhatsApp. Then they asked to share a picture of his daughter. Later they asked her to walk the ramp and took pictures.

On their website, they claimed to have been visiting Indian cities to select 20 child models for various advertisement engagements, fashion shows, etc... Later he received a WhatsApp message from Meghana that they are conducting a final audition in the same place on December 17, 2022. They asked the children to come dressed in red. On Dec 17, the complainant’s daughter walked the ramp and on the same night they got a WhatsApp message that his daughter has been selected for modeling. They asked the parents to select a package. Meghana spoke to them and asked them to wait for their head Dr. Amit’s call. Later they were asked to make online deposits into the bank accounts.

Amit spoke to him on December 20 informing them that their daughter got selected for the Oreo biscuit Ad and she will be working with Rashmika Mandanna in the promotional. He asked the complainant to deposit Rs.3,25,000 for costumes that will be provided by the famous designer Ritu Kumar. Later, they made the complainant believe that they are going to conduct a 6-day photo shoot. They extracted Rs. 14,12,000 from him on the pretext of selecting his daughter for modeling.

Based on the complaint, a case was registered at Cyber Crime Police Station, Cyberabad, and the investigation was started.

With the technical clues, CCPS Police apprehended the accused in Hyderabad.

Background of the accused:

Apurva Ashwin Dawda hails from Mumbai city. He finished his master's in Marketing at the University of California, Los Angeles in 1998. Thereafter he came to India and continued his career as a model for twenty years. Later he got addicted to sumptuous life and lavish spending. He acted in two Bollywood movies ‘OM’ and ‘Chand Sa Roshan Chehra’. When opportunities dried up, he became debt-ridden. In the meantime, he came across the child modeling scam in Bollywood. He found that so many people are making huge money within a short period. He decided to do the same. He lured many innocent people in the name of child modeling and extracted huge amounts. He was also arrested by Mumbai Police and sent to prison. To avoid police radar, he intentionally changed his name from Apoorva Ashwin Davda to Armaan Arjun Kapoor.

He got married to Nazish Iqbal Memon who used to work in the modeling field. After marriage, he changed her name to Natasha Kapoor alias Nazish Apurva Memon.

She also cooperated with him to commit this offence and got involved in the cases he committed.

Modus Operandi:

The accused launched a website that was used to cheat customers in the name of modeling. He used to hold catwalks in malls to select models. They used to contact the mall manager over WhatsApp and get permission for a ramp walk. They used to hire fashion design students for ramp walk shows. He used to promise them handsome salaries.

They used to place a kiosk inside the mall to lure people. They used to take contact numbers of people and promise them that their children will be made to walk the ramp with a little grooming. The victims were provided a coupon code and asked to wait for a week or so. Later, the accused used to call the parents informing them that their kids have been selected. . Then they used to collect money from them on the pretext of package charges, apparel, costume, makeup kit, refundable caution deposit, etc. Later, they used to switch off their phones.

How the bank accounts have been procured:

He visited different cities and towns across the country and selected money transfer shops. He used to convince the shop owners for giving cash. Later as per his plans, he directed the victims to deposit the amount into the accounts of the shop owners whom he used to pay commission. In this manner, he selected the account holders from Jaipur, Ajmer of Rajasthan, and other parts of the country. Police have seized Rs.15.60 lakh cash, four Apple Mobile Phones, one Apple Laptop, 3 Airtel SIM Cards, and two Aadhar Cards