New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) took serious action on Thursday, placing provisional attachment orders on the properties of Bollywood actor Shilpa Shetty and her husband Ripu Sudan Kundra, also known as Raj Kundra. According to the ED, the Kundra couple owns both movable and immovable properties valued at around Rs 97.79 crore. The action was initiated per the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2022.
The properties consist of a residential flat in the affluent Juhu neighbourhood of suburban Mumbai, owned by Shilpa Shetty; additionally, there is a bungalow in Pune and equity interests held by Kundra. The ED has not disclosed the individual valuation of the shares or assets that have been attached. The lawsuit deals with using Bitcoins to defraud investors of their money.
The money laundering case is the result of Federal Investigations (FIRs) filed by the Delhi Police and Maharashtra Police against a company called Variable Tech Pte Ltd, Late Amit Bhardwaj, Ajay Bhardwaj, Vivek Bhardwaj, Simpy Bhardwaj, Mahender Bhardwaj, and several agents. It was claimed that these individuals had amassed enormous sums of money from the unsuspecting public in the form of Bitcoins (worth Rs 6,600 crore in 2017) under false pretences of providing 10% monthly returns in the form of Bitcoins.
The ED said that the promoters had defrauded the investors and had been hiding the fraudulently obtained Bitcoins in secret online wallets. It stated that in order to establish a Bitcoin mining farm in Ukraine, Kundra got 285 Bitcoins from Amit Bhardwaj, the architect and marketer of the Gain Bitcoin Ponzi scheme. According to the ED, Kundra still has 285 Bitcoins, which are currently worth over Rs 150 crore.
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