Hyderabad: A Hyderabad businessman has accused a US-based investor and his associates of derailing his company’s bid for the FIFA World Cup 2026 media rights in the Indian subcontinent by allegedly submitting forged financial documents. The central crime station (CCS) of the Telangana police has register a criminal case on charges of fraud, forgery and criminal conspiracy.The case was registered against US-based businessman Deelip Mhaske alias Sam and others following a complaint by Pritish Kollati, managing director of Metalloid Productions Private Ltd, a city-based media and event management company.According to the complaint, Metalloid had submitted a winning bid of $70.57 million (Rs 670 crore) to FIFA in Sept 2025 for the broadcasting rights of the ongoing FIFA World Cup across the Indian subcontinent.“On Sept 18, 2025, FIFA informed us that Metalloid had emerged as the successful bidder and that we would enter into exclusive contractual negotiations, subject to the fulfilment of FIFA’s terms and conditions. Prior to participating in the tender process, Metalloid entered into an in-principle understanding with India’s national broadcaster but due to regulatory approvals and internal constraints, the national broadcaster withdrew from the proposed arrangement,” Pritish stated in his complaint.Following the withdrawal of the broadcaster, Metalloid began looking for investors to meet its financial obligations under the proposed deal. During this period, Mhaske was introduced to Pritish through a mutual acquaintance and allegedly projected himself as a well-connected businessman with access to substantial funding.“He presented photographs with prominent public figures including his purported interaction with FIFA’s leadership. Based on these representations, Metalloid signed a non-circumvention agreement and term sheet with Mhaske’s firm, Avni LLC, for a proposed $50 million investment for acquiring media rights,” the complainant said. Avni is a Washington-based firm.According to the complaint, Mhaske and entities associated with him submitted several financial documents to FIFA to support the investment proposal. These included records purportedly relating to an account held with UBS Switzerland AG, Zurich, in the name of Avni Products LLC showing the required balance, a Bank of Maharashtra comfort letter indicating availability of Rs 205 crore, and multiple corporate guarantees.However, during FIFA’s due diligence process, the documents were allegedly found to be false, fabricated or unverifiable, raising questions over the financial backing claimed by the investor.“As a result of Mhaske’s acts, Metalloid suffered financial losses of approximately Rs 2 crore, damage to reputation and jeopardised its position as the successful bidder for the FIFA World Cup media rights. If FIFA filed a suit against us for losing its revenue, my company will be facing the legal consequences,” Pritish complained.Based on the complaint, CCS police on July 7 registered a case against Mhaske and others under sections 318(3), 318(4), 336(3), 336(4) and 340(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, relating to cheating, forgery and the use of forged documents.CCS deputy commissioner of police S Chaitanya Kumar said the complainant stated that he would have made a significant profit if the media rights were acquired from FIFA. “He also said to have incurred a loss because the accused allegedly furnished false documents to FIFA. We are collecting evidence from the complainant as part of a preliminary probe. Based on the evidence, appropriate legal action will be initiated,” the DCP added.
