MUMBAI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has seized assets worth Rs 97.79 crore belonging to actor Shilpa Shetty’s husband and businessman Raj Kundra in a Bitcoin money laundering case. Immovable properties including a flat in the name of Shilpa Shetty in Juhu were confiscated.
It is reported that the bungalow in Pune and shares in the name of Raj Kundra have also been confiscated by the ED. ED Mumbai provisionally attaches immovable and movable properties worth Rs 97.79 crore. According to the provisions of PMLA, 2002 the properties are owned by Raj Kundra alias Ripu Sudan Kundra. The attached properties include a residential flat in Juhu named after Shilpa. Shilpa Shetty’s residential bungalow located in Pune and equity shares in the name of Raj Kundra,” also included.
It is alleged that Raj Kundra, who made false promises, collected bitcoins worth Rs 6,600 crore in 2017. The ED started the investigation on the basis of the cases registered by the police in Maharashtra and Delhi. A company called Variable Tech Pvt Ltd was behind the Bitcoin scam.
Money was raised from investors by promising 10 percent profit per month. ED found that 285 of the bitcoins were received by Raj Kundra alone. It is currently valued at around Rs 150 crore in the market. Simpi Bharadwaj, Nitin Gaur and Nikhil Mahajan were earlier arrested in the case. They are in judicial custody. ED said that the main accused Ajay Bharadwaj and Mahendra Bharadwaj are absconding.
