Five-time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova is under investigation in India for cheating and criminal conspiracy after the collapse of a luxury housing project that she endorsed, police and a lawyer said Tuesday.

The firm behind the development is alleged to have taken millions of dollars from homebuyers before the project folded.

"We have registered a case of cheating on directions from the court," local police officer Arvind Sharma told AFP.

He said Sharapova and the firm behind the development, Homestead Infrastructure Development, were named in the case.

The 30-year-old tennis star travelled to India in 2012 to launch the luxury high-rise apartment complex -- later named Ballet by Sharapova -- which prospective buyers were told would house a tennis academy, a clubhouse and a helipad.