The Enforcement Directorate has intensified its investigation into a money laundering case involving scams involving bitcoins. As a part of this, the ED has taken action against the famous actress Shilpa Shetty’s couple. It has attached Rs 97.79 crore of fixed and movable assets belonging to her husband Rajkundra. In this, a residential flat in Juhu is said to be in the name of Shilpa Shetty. Apart from this, it has been revealed that the equity shares of a residential bungalow in Pune, in the name of Rajkundra, have been attached.
A Mumbai-based company called ‘Variable Private Limited’ ran a ‘Gain Bitcoin Ponzi Scheme’ in 2017. As a part of this, they collected Rs.6,600 crores from innocent people in Mumbai and Delhi through agents through multi-level marketing method, hoping that they will get 10 percent profit per month if they invest in Bitcoins. After this fraud came to light, ED registered a case against the company and its promoters and started investigation.
The ED claimed that Raj Kundra took 285 bitcoins from Amit Bhardwaj, the mastermind of this scam. With these, Rajkundra has plans to set up a Bitcoin mining farm in Ukraine. It has been revealed that these coins are still with him and according to the current market their value is more than Rs.150 crores. In this order, Rajkundra’s properties were attached as part of the investigation of the case.
Shilpa Shetty, lawyer for Raj Kundra, issued the following statement
Prashant Patil, advocate of Shilpa Shetty and Raj Kundra said that they follow the due process of law and take necessary steps as prescribed under the provisions of PMLA to protect the liberty and property of his clients .
Patil further said that there is no prima facie case made out against his clients. “We have complete faith in the judiciary. I believe when we make our fair representation before the Enforcement Directorate , even the investigation agencies may grant justice to us. We have faith in the fair investigation. We stand committed to cooperate with the authorities as and when required,” the statement read.
