I got ‘faked’ out in $18M gem swindle

Philanthropist sues seller

A Manhattan philanthropist spent $18 million on “museum quality” jewels — then inexplicably waited six years to have them appraised only to learn they’re glass, a lawsuit alleges.

Now Shelley Rubin, who forked over $100 million with her health-care-mogul husband, Donald Rubin, to open the Rubin Museum of Art in Chelsea in 2004, has filed a lawsuit demanding $18,136,150 plus interest from a woman who she claims duped her into buying the bogus gems.

Rubin (inset), 74, claims in the Manhattan Supreme Court suit that Nisha Sabharwal masqueraded as a member of India’s political elite with connections to its royalty.

When they first met, at the Asia Society on the Upper East Side in 2009, the Indian woman praised Rubin’s generosity and complimented her on her taste in large pieces of jewelry with “an Asian/Indian aesthetic,” the suit says.

“Over multiple interac- tions, Nisha further ingratiated herself to Rubin, confiding that she appreciated Rubin’s interest in art and her philanthropic efforts,” the suit says.

She also “raised the idea of building a ‘museum quality’ collection, as an investment,” Rubin says in the suit.

Sabharwal, 56, claimed to have access “to a princess descended from a historically prominent family in India” who needed cash quickly, the suit says.

So Rubin thought she was getting a bargain when she paid $470,000 for what she thought was a $1 million diamond necklace — before learning from an expert in 2015 that it was worth only $14,000.

“While Rubin was quite knowledgeable about various art forms, she had no particular expertise in jewelry,” the suit says.

After consulting appraisers, she learned the “diamonds” and “emeralds” were just dyed stones pasted onto bracelets and necklaces, her suit says.

Sabharwal was aware that the “vast majority of the pieces sold were knock-offs created in the last 20 years,” Rubin says in court papers.

And the pieces weren’t procured from a princess, as Rubin was led to believe, but rather were “made to look old, of the sort that were found in bazaars tourists frequented,” the suit says.

Sabharwal and her husband sheltered their “illgotten gains” in a Florida company and used the proceeds to invest in real estate, the suit says.

They did not return calls seeking comment.