Mumbai: 'Struggling actor' accused of duping 80 people of Rs 2 cr to fund Bollywood debut

Mumbai Police's Cyber cell arrested a 47-year-old struggling actor for allegedly duping 80 people of Rs 2 crore on the pretext of offering to cast them in films and advertisements. The accused Apurva Ashwin Dowda was nabbed from the Khallapur Toll at the Pune-Express Highway after he came out of his hideout on June 10. 

Officials have accused Ashwin of de-frauding several people across India and abroad via his Dubai office named - 'Zenia Star' by offering people roles in films and TV shows. The money that he collected from his victims were allegedly being used to fund the release of his Bollywood movie- 'Trance' for which he had spent Rs 25 lakh. With an MBA degree from a reputed US University and a certificate from an acting institute, Dowda had been struggling to make his debut in Bollywood.

The scamster however met his match after he tried to trick Mahesh Gupta (47), a resident of Borivali promising to cast his daughter in a film titled 'Bacho ki Duniya.' After he asked for money to be transferred through different bank accounts, Gupta got suspicious and registered a complaint with the Mumbai Police. 

The Cyber police's investigation found out that he had created a fake website to lure people into his scam. The accused, who has acted in several ad films had similar complaints against his name in Sakinaka, Oshiwara, Amboli, NM Joshi Marg, and Dadar areas. Moreover, he had previously been arrested a few years ago in the city over the same. 

Apurva Ashwin Dowda has been booked by the Mumbai Police for cheating and fraud. Nine mobile phones, 40 SIM cards, an international driving license, and multiple passports have been recovered from his possession.