Actress-turned-director Pooja Bhatt was horrified yesterday when she learnt that a man had been collecting funds from event companies by posing as her agent. She wrote a series of tweets and decided to file a police complaint against the impostor.
“Horrified that a man called Prashant Malgewar-Solitude Lifestyle Inc is masquerading as my agent & taking funds from event co's on my behalf... This is a very DANGEROUS trend. Strict action needs to be taken against Prashant Malgewar(Soulitude Lifestyle Inc) as this amounts to FRAUD,” read a couple of her tweets.
Bhatt even wondered how the companies easily believed him without any verification. "A man walks into a reputed event co's office,claims money on my behalf & no-one there asks for authentication or a signed invoice from me?” she tweeted.
However, later in the day, after meeting the man and knowing his situation, she decided against lodging a complaint and forgave him after he promised not to repeat such offences. She disclosed the news on Twitter. “Met Prashant Malgewar-The man who took money from an event co on my behalf without my consent & made him return the funds to them. He admitted his deceit, apologised irrevocably & promised he would never attempt something like this with any other artiste or individual.”
The fact that his family is dependant on him moved Bhatt. She said, “Prashant Malgewar is a sole bread earner & seemed genuinely remorseful. Will not press charges for the sake of his family. Forgive. Forget.”
The turn of events played out on the eve of Bhatt's 45th birthday.