The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) has booked actress Shilpa Shetty Kundra, her husband and businessman Raj Kundra, and an unnamed individual for allegedly cheating a Mumbai-based businessman of ₹60.4 crore. The case relates to a loan-cum-investment deal involving Best Deal TV Pvt Ltd, a now-defunct company formerly operated by Shetty and Kundra.
The FIR, registered at the Juhu police station, cites sections of the Indian Penal Code pertaining to cheating and forgery. Due to the large sum involved, exceeding ₹10 crore, the case has been transferred to the EOW for further investigation. The action follows a preliminary inquiry by the EOW into a complaint filed by Deepak Kothari, a 60-year-old Juhu resident and director of Lotus Capital Financial Services, an NBFC.
According to Kothari, Rajesh Arya introduced him to Raj Kundra and Shilpa Shetty, who were directors of Best Deal TV Pvt Ltd, which operated as a home shopping and online retail platform. At the time, the couple reportedly owned 87.6% of the company's shares. Kothari alleges that the accused initially sought a loan of ₹75 crore at a 12% interest rate. However, they later allegedly persuaded him to route the funds as an "investment" to avoid higher taxation, promising monthly returns and repayment of the principal amount.
Kothari claims to have transferred ₹31.9 crore in April 2015 under a share subscription agreement, followed by an additional ₹28.53 crore in September 2015 under a supplementary agreement. Despite providing a personal guarantee in April 2016, Shetty resigned as a director in September 2016. Kothari later discovered that insolvency proceedings had commenced against the company in 2017 due to defaulting on another agreement. He alleges that his repeated attempts to recover his money have been unsuccessful, with delays attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This isn't the first time Raj Kundra and Shilpa Shetty have faced allegations of financial impropriety. In June 2024, they were accused of cheating a bullion trader in Mumbai with a gold investment scheme. Prithviraj Saremal Kothari alleged that the couple, along with associates, enticed investors with promises of high returns on gold investments through their company. Kothari claimed he did not receive the promised gold despite making an upfront payment of ₹90,38,600. The Mumbai Sessions Court ordered an investigation into these allegations. Furthermore, Raj Kundra has also been under the Enforcement Directorate's radar in a money laundering case linked to a Ponzi scheme, with properties worth ₹97.79 crore, including a Mumbai flat registered in Shilpa Shetty's name, being seized.
