ED action on Raj Kundra:The Enforcement Directorate i.e. ED has taken major action against Raj Kundra, husband of famous Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty. The Enforcement Directorate has seized assets worth Rs 97.79 crore of Raj Kundra in the investigation related to Bitcoin Ponzi scam. According to reports, the Juhu flat is also among the properties seized by ED. This plot is in the name of Shilpa Shetty.
What was seized?
ED has taken this action under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2022. The seized properties include a flat in Juhu, a residential bungalow in Pune and equity shares owned by Raj Kundra. ED had started investigation on the basis of FIR lodged by Delhi and Maharashtra Police.
ED, Mumbai has provisionally attached immovable and movable properties worth Rs 97.79 Crore belonging to Ripu Sudan Kundra aka Raj Kundra under the provisions of PMLA, 2002. The attached properties include a Residential flat situated in Juhu currently in the name of Shilpa… pic.twitter.com/eOBzZA6ZSM
— ANI (@ANI) April 18, 2024
FIR was registered against them
The ED had registered a case against Variable Tech Pvt Ltd, late Amit Bhardwaj, Ajay Bhardwaj, Vivek Bhardwaj, Simpi Bhardwaj, Mahendra Bhardwaj and others based on complaints by police in Maharashtra and Delhi. ED started investigation on the basis of this FIR.
The investigation found the accused promised 10% monthly returns through Bitcoin investments and defrauded investors and raised around Rs 6,600 crore in Bitcoin in 2017. It was a kind of Ponzi scheme.
During the investigation, the agency came to know that Raj Kundra had received 285 Bitcoins from Amit Bhardwaj, the mastermind of the ‘Gain Bitcoin’ Ponzi scheme. These bitcoins were received for setting up a bitcoin mining farm in Ukraine. However, the deal did not come to fruition. Due to which Kundra was left with bitcoins. Whose value is currently more than Rs 150 crore.
Was arrested for making adult movie in 2021
Raj Kundra has been in controversies before also. In 2021, they used to distribute adult films to their customers through an app named ‘Hotshots’. When the matter came to light, he was arrested on 19 July 2021 in a case related to the production and distribution of adult films. He got bail from the Supreme Court in that case.
What is Ponzi scheme?
Ponzi scheme is a type of fraud. In this, investors are promised huge profits with little or no risk. But the money is not invested. Instead the fraudsters try to deceive as many people as possible. In this way, some profit is given to the initial investors from the funds of new investors, so that the fraud cannot be detected.
