"Baseless, Malicious": Shilpa Shetty, Raj Kundra On Rs 60 Crore Fraud Case

In their response to a businessman's allegations of a Rs 60 crore fraud, actor Shilpa Shetty and businessman husband Raj Kundra have said there is "no criminality involved" and the case against them is "baseless and malicious" and aimed at maligning their reputation.

This comes after businessman Deepak Kothari accused the couple of cheating him, and the Economic Offences Wing of Mumbai Police filed an FIR against Ms Shetty and Mr Kundra.

Mr Kothari, director of Lotus Capital Financial Services Limited, has alleged that the couple took money from him to expand their business but used it for personal expenses.

The businessman has said that the celebrity couple approached him in 2015 and sought a Rs 75 crore loan for their company, Best Deal TV Private Limited, a shopping TV channel, at a 12 per cent interest rate. According to the businessman, Ms Shetty and Mr Kundra later asked him to give the funds as an "investment" instead of a loan and assured him of monthly returns and repayment of principal.

Mr Kothari has said he transferred Rs 31.95 crore in April 2015 under a share subscription agreement, and Rs 28.53 crore in September 2015 under a supplementary agreement. The amount was credited to Best Deal TV's bank accounts.

The businessman said in his complaint that repeated attempts to recover the funds failed, and accused the couple of "dishonestly using" the money. The Economic Offences Wing is currently investigating the matter.

The couple's lawyer, Advocate Prashant Patil, has now put out a statement. "My clients have been informed by certain segment of electronic and print media that there is an alleged case registered against my clients at the Economic Offences Wing, Mumbai.

"At the outset, my clients deny all the allegations against them which are purely civil in nature and have been adjudicated by the NCLT Mumbai on 04/10/2024. This is an old transaction, wherein the company went into financial distress and eventually got entangled in a long legal battle at the NCLT," the lawyer has said.

"There is no criminality involved and our auditors have submitted all the necessary supporting documents from time to time, as requested by the EOW, including detailed cash flow statements. The investment agreement in question is purely in the nature of an equity investment," the statement added.

The company, the lawyer said, has received a liquidation order that has been placed before the cops. "The concerned Charter accounts have visited the police station for last one year for more than 15 times with all the evidence supporting the claims of my clients," he said.

"This is nothing but a baseless and malicious case aimed at maligning our clients, and appropriate action is being initiated from our side against the perpetrators," the lawyer said.

Mr Kundra has made headlines for the wrong reasons of late. Last year, his premises were searched by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with a money laundering case. In 2021, he was arrested in a case linked to the production and streaming of pornographic films. He was later granted bail.