Celebrity chef arrested in India for ‘swindling business partner for $200,000’

Chinese-Canadian chef arrived in Mumbai in 2012 and rose to recognition among celebrities for his culinary skills

The chef has been taken into custody on a complaint filed by a former co-owner of his Bastian restaurant (screengrab/facebookkelvin cheung )

Canadian-born celebrity chef Kelvin Cheung was arrested by Mumbai police on Monday for allegedly defrauding his restaurant co-owner out of $200,000.

Cheung, who is a popular chef among Bollywood celebrities in India, was arrested in Delhi and brought to Mumbai by the police. He has denied the allegations.

The chef has been taken into the custody on a police complaint filed by the former co-owner of his Bastian restaurant, Ranjit Bindra, on 8 December.

According to police, while the two were working together at Bastian, Cheung persuaded his business partner to give him $200,000 on the pretext of investing in restaurant franchises in Chicago and Los Angeles, with the help of his father, in 2015.  

The payment was made in multiple transactions through a hospitality firm.  

Cheung abruptly withdrew from his association with the restaurant last year, however, and according to the complaint started ignoring Mr Bindra’s calls.  

“Recently, Bindra learnt that Cheung has returned to India. He hoped to get his money back, and hence approached police and registered a complaint,” said the police official.

The two also got involved in a public spat two years back, following which Cheung quit his role at the restaurant. 

“I can state that I wasn’t part of any deal with Bastian regarding their investment deal. I haven’t signed any contracts with them and I haven’t received any payments from them as alleged by them,” the chef told Hindustan Times earlier.

Cheung has been charged under sections on cheating and criminal breach of trust of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Police are likely to seek Cheung’s extended custody for questioning in the cases.

Bastian is a popular restaurant in Bandra, Mumbai and has branches in Chicago and Los Angeles. Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty Kundra acquired a 50 per cent stake in Bastian Hospitality and launched another franchise at Worli, also in Mumbai.  

While the hospitality firm cited Cheung's father's passing as the reason for his withdrawal from the restaurant business, tabloids at the time connected it to Mr Bindra’s relationship with Shetty.