Shilpa Shetty, husband Raj Kundra charged for cheating businessman of Rs 60 cr

Raj Kundra with Shilpa Shetty

Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty and her husband, Raj Kundra, have been booked by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) for a Rs 60.4 crore fraud.

The EOW has registered a complaint against the couple for allegedly cheating a Mumbai businessman of the hefty amount in connection with a loan-cum-investment deal. It involves their now-defunct company, Best Deal TV Pvt Ltd.

The complaint was filed by one man named Deepak Kothari at the Juhu police station against Shilpa Shetty and Raj Kundra under cheating and forgery sections.

The case was eventually transferred to the EOW since the amount was more than Rs 10 crore.

60-year-old Deepak Kothari is a Juhu resident and director of Lotus Capital Financial Services.

In his complaint, Kothari has alleged that he was introduced to Raj Kundra and Shilpa Shetty by one Rajesh Arya. At that time Raj and Shilpa were directors of Best Deal TV Pvt Ltd, a home shopping and online retail platform.

Shilpa and Raj reportedly held 87.6% shares in the firm at that time.

The accused is said to have asked for a loan of Rs 75 crore at 12% interest but later convinced the victim to send the money as an "investment" to avoid paying more taxes, promising monthly profits and the recovery of the capital.

Also Read: Hrithik Roshan and NTR request fans to keep War 2 spoilers and secrets under wraps: 'We are counting on you'

Deepak Kothari further said that in April 2015, he sent Rs 31.9 crore as part of a share subscription arrangement. Then, in September 2015, he sent an additional Rs 28.53 crore as part of a supplementary agreement.

The FIR states that Shilpa Shetty quit as director in September 2016, even though she had given a personal guarantee in April 2016. Later, Kothari found out that the company was going through bankruptcy because it had broken another contract in 2017.