A millionaire Manhattan real estate developer has been cleared on charges that he assaulted his ex-girlfriend — who he accuses of being a violent gold digger and the real aggressor in their volatile relationship.
Michael Shah, 42, was beaming at a hearing in Manhattan Supreme Court on Friday where a prosecutor announced that the district attorney’s office was no longer pursuing assault charges against the well-heeled developer.
“After a thorough investigation including multiple leads with both parties, interviewing with various witnesses and police officers, examining body cameras, 911 calls, video surveillance and phone records, the People are moving to dismiss both cases,” Assistant District Attorney Nicholas Vargas told a Manhattan judge during a two-minute hearing.
Shah’s ex-girlfriend, Bhavana Chamoli, an aspiring actress, accused Shah of shoving her against a wall in September and giving her a split lip.
But Vargas said that after Manhattan prosecutors pored over the evidence in the case, they couldn’t move forward with charges against Shah.
After the hearing, Shah said he felt “great” about the outcome of the case and issued a written statement through his lawyer.
Michael Shah (left) and his attorney Rachna Shah leave the Manhattan Criminal Court on Friday.Rashid Umar Abbasi“I am relieved to be completely vindicated of these false accusations,” Shah’s statement reads. “This has been an unwelcome distraction and we can now give our entire focus to our projects at Delshah Capital, where, despite the incredibly distressed market, we expect to enjoy one of our most successful years ever.”
Shah maintained that he was the real victim of abuse in the relationship.
The real estate mogul says that during the September fight at his apartment, Chamoli destroyed a glass table — as well as a $2,000 glass chandelier — and punched him in the head.
Shah also says that, in a row the couple had in July at a Manhattan bar, Chamoli stomped on his foot with her stiletto and slapped him in the face three times.
Shah was arrested after the November dust-up and was hit with a restraining order to keep him away from Chamoli.
But the explosive couple had trouble staying apart.
They had an illicit reconciliation while the order was in effect, in which Shah brought his estranged sweetheart an $11,000 Cartier bracelet.
Shah claims that when he ultimately tried to break things off with Chamoli for good, she got violent and tried shaking him down for money and jewelry.
Chamoli’s lawyer, Jeremy Saland, accused the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office of short-changing its investigation into the charges against Shah — and that it should have executed a search warrant on Shah’s phone.
“Instead of the District Attorney’s Office leaving no stone left unturned during their investigation, prosecutors left a field of injustice in its place,” Saland said. “The biggest boulder the DA’s office simply ignored contained a trove of corroborative and valuable evidence.”
The Manhattan DA’s office declined to respond to Saland’s remarks.




