A driver employed by Farhan Akhtar's family has been booked for allegedly misusing credit cards and defrauding the actor's family of approximately ₹12 lakh. The accused, Naresh Singh, 35, worked for Farhan Akhtar's mother, Honey Irani, a renowned screenwriter.
The alleged fraud involved the misuse of multiple credit cards issued in Farhan Akhtar's name. Instead of using the cards for their intended purpose, which was to fuel Irani's vehicles, Naresh Singh allegedly colluded with Arun Singh, 52, an employee at a petrol pump near Bandra Lake, to pocket the cash. The scheme involved swiping the credit cards at the petrol pump and receiving cash in return from Arun Singh, who would deduct a commission, reportedly between ₹1,000 and ₹1,500 per transaction.
The discrepancy was discovered on October 1, 2025, when Honey Irani's manager, Diya Bhatia, 36, noticed irregularities in the fuel expenses. Bhatia found an entry indicating that a Maruti car, which has a 35-liter diesel tank, had purportedly been filled with 621 liters of diesel. Further investigation revealed that three different cards had been used and that oil had been purchased for a vehicle the family had sold seven years prior. When questioned, Naresh Singh initially claimed to have used only one card but eventually confessed to the scheme during further questioning and a meeting with Honey Irani.
According to the First Information Report (FIR), Naresh Singh admitted to acquiring the cards in 2022 from Farhan Akhtar's former driver, Santosh Kumar, and had been using them regularly since then to carry out the fraudulent scheme with Arun Singh's assistance.
The Mumbai Police have registered a case against Naresh Singh and Arun Singh under sections 316 (2), 318 (4), and 3 (5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. These sections relate to criminal breach of trust and cheating. Investigations are currently underway to determine the full extent of the fraud.
This incident highlights the importance of vigilance and careful monitoring of financial transactions to prevent credit card scams.
