Poonam is an art thief too, says husband Jaidev Shroff

Industrialist Jaidev Shroffrsquos United Phosphorous Limited has filed a complaint against his wife Poonam Bhagat at the Khar police station alleging that she colluded with top contemporary artist Subodh Gupta leading art collector and dealer Peter Nagy and Aparajita Jain both directors at leading Delhibased art gallery Nature Morte to cheat him of Rs 74 lakhArt attack Poonam Bhagat claims the allegation over Subodh Guptarsquos art work lsquoDadarsquo is a ploy by Jaidev Shroff to coerce her to settle PicYogen ShahJaidevrsquos UPL paid Rs 4 crore for the installation titles lsquoDadarsquo which now sits in the companyrsquos Bandra office lobby Jaidev has alleged that the trio siphoned off UPLrsquos money by inflating the price of the workPoonam BhagatJaidev has also alleged that Poonam had tried to install the artwork at their Bandra residence when it was delivered in April 2015 with the aim of claiming it in case of a divorceJaidev ShroffUPL Director Kishore Chandiramani filed the complaint at the Khar police station on June 6 The police are now in the process of recording the statements of those involved ldquoWe have received the companyrsquos complaint The matter is under investigationrdquo said Khar police Senior Inspector Ramchandra JadhavGupta is one of Indiarsquos most accomplished contemporary artists Nagy is an American artist who moved to Delhi in the 1990s to set up Nature Morte and is considered to be the poster boy of Indian contemporary art promoting various top artists In the complaint Chandiramani doesnrsquot elaborate on why Gupta ldquoaided and abettedrdquo the fraudArtist Subodh Gupta in front of one of his installations File picWhile Nature Mortersquos Jain did not respond to calls or messages Gupta told midday that he was not aware of the development ldquoI am sorry I have no idea I have no cluerdquo he said ldquoAll my art work to anyone is sold through my gallery Nature MorterdquoJaidev and Poonams messy divorce battle came to the limelight when he filed a police complaint in April alleging that she fed him a poisonous potion recommended by a Bengali Baba which he said had caused havoc to his sleep patternsIncidentally Poonams sister Sheetal Mafatlal faces serious charges of art theft herself after allegedly stealing paintings worth R100 crore belonging to the Mafatlal company during her own acrimonious divorce battle with Atulya MafatlalMore recently the sisters were in the news after Sheetal allegedly took forceful possession of their mother Rajani Bhagatrsquos Pali Hill bungalow As Rajani filed an FIR against Sheetal the latter alleged that she was locked up and assaulted inside the bungalow by PoonamPeter Nagy PICWIKICOMMONSAccording to Chandiramanirsquos complaint in the latest case Poonam had allegedly advised Jaidev and UPL officials to purchase classic art works to decorate the office She is said to have been instrumental in identifying selecting negotiating purchasing and installing pricey works on the floors of UPL House in Bandra EastldquoFor the company she Poonam was like Caeserrsquos wife who was above suspicion But in hindsight we have now realised that she acted like Brutus in her Trojan evil designsrdquo reads a line in the complaintAccording to the complaint Poonam identified Guptarsquos lsquoDadarsquo in January 2015 and recommended it to UPL Nature Morte Art Limitedrsquo executed the commissioning of the work through its directors Jain and Nagy The company has exclusive rights over the artwork created by GuptaIn February 2015 UPL inked a deal to buy lsquoDadarsquo for Rs 4 crore The complaint alleged that Poonam and Aparajita conspired to inflate the price and pocketed the excessldquoBoth the directors of Nature Morte Art Limited and Gupta being the creator of artwork have all benefited aided and conspired to deceive the companyrdquo said the complaint It alleged Poonam was the mastermindldquoPoonam conspired and inflated the bill to R4 crore and took a kickback and commission of 10 per cent from Aparajita of Nature Morte Art LimitedrdquoInterestingly UPL has also submitted a purported transcript of conversations between Poonam and Aparajita and a few mails between the two to support its complaint It said that Poonam made Aparajita mail Jaidev talking up the work when the transaction was onThe complaint seeks that Poonam Nagy Jain and Gupta be booked under Section 406 420 and 120b of the Indian Penal CodeldquoWe were indeed shocked when we stumbled upon the revelations Our primary responsibility is towards the company and its shareholders Hence it does not matter who the wrongdoer isrdquo Chandiramani told midday He has added in the complaint that the company suspects that Poonam must have gained similar benefits in previous dealings as wellJaidev told midday ldquoI am shocked and disappointed after learning about the incidentrdquoPoonamrsquos lawyers claimed that the complaint was an attempt by Shroff to force their client to back out of the divorce battleldquoThe allegations are completely false and baselessrdquo Advocate Pranav Badheka said on behalf of PoonamldquoPoonam did not benefit a rupee from the dealing Jaidev and his companyrsquos Kishore Chandiramani negotiated and made an agreement with Nature Morte The artwork is currently kept in UPLrsquos office Jaidev and his team are using the police machinery to settle the matrimonial dispute and put pressure on my clientrdquo