New Delhi: The Delhi Police has registered an FIR against popular Haryanvi dancer and former Bigg Boss contestant Sapna Chaudhury for allegedly embezzling more than Rs 3.5 crore from a PR company.
Chaudhary, who is from Haryana, is a member of the ruling BJP. She joined the party in July 2019, a few months before the state elections.
The FIR was filed against Chaudhury Wednesday for alleged criminal breach of trust and cheating after Pawan Chawla, director of celebrity management company P&M Movies Pvt. Ltd, who was managing the dancer and other members of her family, accused them of breaking all terms of their contract on 30 July 2020.
The nine-page FIR, a copy of which was accessed by ThePrint, says Chaudhury began embezzling money in May 2018.
She has been accused of breaching the terms of her contract with Chawla’s company and also for taking an advance payment of Rs 1 crore to purchase a flat in Gurugram in August 2018. The popular Haryanvi dancer had also allegedly taken several such loans since 2018 but never returned the money.
Speaking to ThePrint, a senior police officer said: “The allegations by the complainant are from 2018, and contain different amounts taken on several occasions. FIR was registered after preliminary probe, investigation is on in the matter.”
Chaudhury, along with her family, has been booked under sections 406 (punishment for criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating) and 120B (whoever is a party to a criminal conspiracy other than a criminal conspiracy to commit an offence punishable as aforesaid shall be punished with imprisonment) of the Indian Penal Code by the Economic Offences Wing of Delhi Police.
She has denied all allegations against her. Speaking to ThePrint, Chaudhary said the charges are “false and baseless”, and that she did not commit any breach of contract.
The case
According to the FIR, Chaudhury had signed an agreement with Chawla’s PR company for her stage dance and singing performances in 2018.
The complaint claimed that she broke her artiste management agreement, in which it was clarified that she could not work with or join any other company.
Chaudhary also allegedly undertook business activities, and did not perform on stage, against the terms of the contract.
The detailed list of allegations include amounts she allegedly took from the complainant and his associates on particular dates.
The FIR also contains details of the contract signed between the company and her.
“When Pawan Chawla approached the accused (Sapna Chaudhary), instead of making the payment and abiding by the terms of the existing arrangement agreement, he was threatened with dire consequences. The complainant is not in a position to unearth the entire conspiracy for which assistance and technical expertise of the police are required, the FIR states.
Meanwhile, Chaudhary denied all allegations against her.
“The allegations against me are false and baseless. This matter is from 2018. Why file FIR against me now? I have not embezzled or misappropriated any funds or done any sort of fraud. In fact, I have worked a lot with Pawan Chawla and who knows we might work again in the future. This matter shouldn’t have blown out like this,” she told ThePrint.
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