Celebrity Fitness Trainer Rizwan Sayed dupes customers – courts arrest by VP Road Police
It’s not something new. In the financial city of Mumbai there are many SPAs, Beauty Parlours and Gyms. Such parlours are often patronized by hi-profile people that includes even celebrities. Not many are genuine but are floated for making easy money. After amassing hefty money they shut shop and disappear in thin air.
An instance comes to light of celebrity fitness trainer and owner of fitness chain YFC (Your Fitness Club) Rizwan Sayed who courted arrest late Sunday night on the strength of a complaint lodged by more than 50 of his clients. According to the gym’s clients they allege that Sayed refused to return their membership fees, a total of Rs six lakh, following the shut down of the gym’s in July.
In their complaint, many of the clients have reiterated that they had renewed their memberships in May/ June. Reportedly, the management gave them an assurance that the Girgaon branch, which had shut on July 3, would re-open in a nearby location soon.
As per sources, Individual members paid an annual fee ranging from Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000. According to businessman Amit Gadia they got the information about the shut down of the gym through text messages on the very day the gym shut down shop. The message read that the gym’s lease with the building owners had come to an end.Regretabbly they did not get any sort of previous information about the shut down. There was no previous intimation A few days later, the management sent another text announcing the reopening of the gym at a location in Charni Road.” As per Gadia a signboard with the same announcement was also installed outside the gym. During this time, several staffers continued registering new members, claimed Gadia.
Lawyer Veer Ashar in his complaint alleges that he and his brother demanded the gym for the return of their membership fees after the establishment did not re-open as promised by the administrators. “We had purchased the club’s membership in March for an annual fee of Rs 13,500 each,” Ashar said. “For a few weeks after it shut shop, we wsre feeded from the gym that it would be re-opening soon, which was followed by subsequent messages that the renovation had been stalled by the rain.
The lawyer affirms that the management issued a cheque to his brother, which bounced. The brothers have sent a legal notice to Sayed about this.
Many of the complainants also included new members who never used the gym. Businessman Hitesh Vasani had first gone to the gym in the first week of August. “I was told that the gym was shut for some renovation and would restart soon,” Vasani said. “During one of their follow-up calls, I told them that I wanted to buy memberships for three of my family members. With the group discount, our annual membership fee was Rs 30,000. When I told them I would not be able to come to the gym to pay the fee, an executive came down to my shop to take the money.”
However, when the gym failed to function two weeks later, he called the executives and asked for a refund. “They just stopped taking my calls after that,” Vasani said. “I mailed them, but I never got a response.”
Gadia said that more than a hundred people were duped by Sayed and his team in a similar manner. Of them, only 55 have signed the complaint. “The Mumbai Central branch of the gym was closed down in a similar manner,” Gadia said. “They were asked to join the Opera House branch, which has also been shut down.”
VP Road police station senior inspector Gulabrao More said that Sayed was arrested late on Sunday night and presented in court on Monday.
“He will be in police custody till November 6,” More said. “Meanwhile, we are recording statements of more victims,” More said.
Edit by KVRaman
