From Pitch To Prison? Shark Tank's Anupam Mittal Warns 'Fraud' Founder Of Jail Time

Shark Tank's fifth season saw a pitcher that attracted the ire of the 'Sharks' (investors who act as panelists for the show) who alleged that he was engaging in fraudulent and baseless claims and accused him of manipulating and deceiving his customers.

Manoj Das, an aromatherapist and a naturopath, came on to the show to pitch his venture Lewisia Wellness, which he claimed could cure skin and hair problems and were created from natural ingredients, calling them "chemical free."

The panelists included Anupam Mittal, founder and director of Shaadi.com; Kunal Bahl, co-founder of Snapdeal and Titan Capital; Namita Thapar, executive director at Emcure Pharmaceuticals; Mohit Yadav, co-founder of skincare brand Minimalist and Aman Gupta, co-founder and chief marketing officer of boAt.

Das sought Rs 1 crore in exchange for 1% equity in his company.

These claims, which Das failed to adequately substantiate to satisfy their skepticism as well as his insistence on calling himself a doctor despite not having a corresponding medical degree, inflamed their ire.

“Can you write doctor if you are an aromatherapist and naturopath?” Mittal enquired. When Das persisted in his claim that he could, the Shaadi.com founder stated, “I will change my name if you can add doctor to yours.”

“This is a fraud case if you can’t put doctor in your name," Aman Gupta added.

Mittal inquired about the clinical studies that Das undertook to verify the efficacy of the product. On being told that no such study was conducted, he called out the pitcher for his unverified claims.

"Then how are you claiming it is a hair growth serum?” he asked.

The pitcher is also a social media personality with 6,00,000 followers on Instagram and 3.7 million subscribers on YouTube, and has claimed to have completed a beauty culture certification course along with stating that he "trained beauticians" via seminars.

"Your reels are very provocative and which is why your business has grown,” Mittal stated.

“Your big claims are baseless. You are provoking viewers and using their need to look good,” he said, when he watched Das's content in which the pitcher claimed to be able to regrow hair and rid users' skin of blemishes.

The Shark's skepticism was further raised by the products' low ratings on Amazon. “Kya kand karne aai ho?" (What scandal have you come to create?) Mittal asked.

Yadav, a skincare brand founder himself, questioned Das's usage of the term "chemical free" in his pitch.

“You said that you were troubled by chemicals but your products have chemicals,” Mohit Yadav said.

“Everything is chemical in this. In a way water is also a chemical. When people say their product doesn’t have chemicals, I find it a mis-study. I may have a different view," he added.

Das asserted that his brand made Rs 10 crore in sales in 2024–2025, with a profit of Rs 4 crore. He further said that he was expecting to make Rs 15 crore in sales in Fiscal 2026.

The Sharks however, did not believe him. "You can’t declare so many sales here, you should be ashamed not proud," Namita Thapar said calling his brand unethical and opting out.

The other sharks also opted out citing similar reasons. "I will do wrong with the country if I invest in this," Aman Gupta said.

Bahl also declared that he would not invest while strongly criticisng Das. "I hope nobody else invests in this company," Bahl stated.

Mittal opted out thrice and said that some pitches made him want to reject them multiple times. "You will go to jail if you come under scanner," Mittal informed the pitcher.