The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has confiscated assets worth 97.79 crore INR belonging to actress Shilpa Shetty's husband Raj Kundra, including a luxury apartment in Juhu registered under Shilpa's name.
Under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) of 2002, ED executed this action. The seized properties include a flat in Juhu, a bungalow in Pune, and several equity shares in Raj Kundra's name. The probe was initiated based on FIRs filed by Maharashtra Police and Delhi Police.
The FIR against M/s Variable Tech Pvt Ltd, Amit Bhardwaj, Ajay Bhardwaj, Vivek Bhardwaj, Simpi Bhardwaj, Mahendra Bhardwaj, and some agents was for collecting about 6600 crore INR worth of bitcoins from investors in 2017 under false promises, offering a 10% return. It was a Ponzi scheme that led to a massive defrauding of investors.
ED's investigation revealed that Raj Kundra had received 285 bitcoins from Amit Bhardwaj, the mastermind behind this scam. These were meant for investing in Bitcoin mining in Ukraine, which never materialized, and the bitcoins are still in Kundra's possession, valued at over 150 crore INR currently.
In 2021, Raj Kundra was embroiled in a pornography case as well. He was arrested on July 19, 2021, for his involvement in producing and distributing adult films through an app called Hotshots. He spent 63 days in jail before being released on bail.
