In a new twist in the Baba Ka Dhaba case, Swad Official’s Gaurav Wasan has alleged that he is being defamed and claimed that he has already transferred an amount of Rs 3.78 lakhs to the eatery owner.
The assertions from Wasan came after the 80-year-old owner of ‘Baba Ka Dhaba’, Kanta Prasad filed a complaint against the food vlogger, accusing him of misappropriation of funds. In his complaint, he alleged that he has received a cheque of Rs 2.33 lakhs from Mr Wasan and has no idea about the remaining amount.
Refuting the allegations of misappropriation of funds levelled against him, Gaurav, who had uploaded the video of the elderly couple struggling to make ends meet and asked people to donate for them, said, “False allegations are being levelled against me so as to defame me. They claim I received Rs 25 lakhs in my bank account, which is simply untrue.”
The food vlogger further added that if he indeed received the amount, it should reflect in his bank accounts and transactions, claiming that the amount he received for Baba Ka Dhaba has been transferred to its owner. When sought details of the exact amount he received from the fundraising for Baba ka Dhaba, Gaurav said he received around Rs 3.78 lakhs in donations, including the amount he received via PayTM.
Wasan says that he has given two cheques to Kanta Prasad, one of Rs 1 lakh and another one of Rs 2.33 lakhs. Besides, an amount of Rs 45,000 was transferred to Mr Prasad via PayTM, he claimed.
“I am being called thief. I am being accused of fraud and misappropriation of funds. People are pointing fingers at my family. This is not correct,” Wasan lamented.
YouTuber Lakshay Chaudhary uploads a video accusing Gaurav Wasan of misappropriation of funds
The controversy surrounding the serious allegations of misappropriation of funds alleged against Wasan came to the fore after Chaudhary uploaded a YouTube video in which he claimed that Gaurav Wasan, who ran an online campaign seeking monetary assistance for ‘Baba ka Dhaba’ did not transfer the collected amount to Kanta Prasad. He further added that Gaurav had asked people on his YouTube channel to contact him for helping Kanta Prasad and shared his personal bank accounts for donations, instead of providing Kanta Prasad’s bank details for people to contribute.
Even Kanta Prasad was seen in the video uploaded by Lakshay wherein he admitted that he had not received any donation online from Wasan.
“I have not received any donation online. I have received financial assistance in the form of cash. I have even received donation made by Amitabh Bachchan. But besides this, I have received no other online donations,” Prasad revealed to Chaudhary.
He further added, “I was being instructed by Gaurav to not share my bank details with anyone. Since the video went viral, I gave my mobile phone to Sushant. Gaurav has not given me any money, either in cash or online. Whatever he has collected, he is having it with him. Also, my bank account has been frozen.”
Gaurav Wasan responds to the allegations levelled in Lakshay Chaudhary’s video
Two days after YouTuber Lakshay Chaudhary and many others levelled serious allegations of fraud and embezzlement of funds against him, Swad Official’s Gaurav Wasan uploaded a video, presenting his side of the story and rubbishing the allegations as baseless and motivated.
In his video, Gaurav ran his viewers with the details of his ICICI bank passbook details, alleging that he has transferred all the amount he has received on behalf of Mr Prasad to the Baba Ka Dhaba owner. Gaurav mentioned in the video that he has so far collected Rs 3.35 lakhs through the fundraising campaign, and this amount was provided to Baba in the form of a bank cheque. However, he acknowledged that he was late in transferring the amount to Baba.
