Remo D’Souza, wife, 5 others booked for cheating dance troupe of ₹11.96 crore

Choreographer Remo D'Souza, his wife and five others were reportedly booked in Maharashtra's Thane district for allegedly cheating a dance troupe of ₹11.96 crore. A case has been registered against them based on a complaint filed by a 26-year-old dancer.

The case was registered at Mira Road police station on October 16 against Remo D'Souza, his wife Lizelle, five others under sections 465 (forgery), 420 (cheating) and other relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code, an official was quoted by news agency PTI as saying.

The other accused in the case are Omprakash Shankar Chouhan, Rohit Jadhav, Frame Production Company, Vinod Raut, a policeman, and Ramesh Gupta, the official said, adding that a probe is underway.

What is Remo D'Souza accused of?

As per the FIR, the complainant and his troupe were allegedly cheated between 2018 and July 2024. "The troupe performed on a television show and won, and the accused allegedly posed as if the group was theirs and claimed the prize money of ₹11.96 crore," he said.

Who is Remo D’Souza?

Remo has been a judge on many dance reality shows since 2009. He was a judge on Dance India Dance, Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa, Dance Ke Superstars, Dance Plus, Dance Champions, India's Best Dancer, DID Little Master, and DID Super Moms, among others. He also hosted Dance Plus (seasons 4, 5, 6), India's Best Dancer, Hip Hop India, and Dance Plus Pro.

Besides being a choreographer, D’Souza’s first film as director was Jackky Bhagnani-starrer F.A.L.T.U (2011), a satire on the education system that the filmmaker calls ‘a tale of 33 per centers like me.’

The bigger break came two years later though with 3D dance drama ABCD: Anybody Can Dance that coincided with his tryst with reality television.

According to the Hindustan Times, Remo is now gearing up for the release of his Prime Video film Be Happy, starring Abhishek Bachchan and Inayat Verma. The film has been directed by Remo and produced by Lizelle. It tells the story of a single father and his daughter. The movie also stars Nora Fatehi, Nassar, Johny Lever and Harleen Sethi.