Shilpa Shetty, Raj Kundra Booked for ₹60 Crore Fraud; Lawyer Says Matter Was Resolved Last Year
Mumbai: Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty and her husband, businessman Raj Kundra, are facing fresh legal trouble after the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Mumbai Police registered a cheating case against them. The celebrity couple is accused of defrauding a businessman of ₹60.48 crore in a loan-cum-investment deal involving Best Deal TV Pvt. Ltd.
According to the complaint by businessman Deepak Kothari, between 2015 and 2023, he provided ₹60.48 crore to Shetty and Kundra for business expansion. He alleges, however, that the money was instead diverted for personal use.
Kothari said he was introduced to the couple in 2015 through agent Rajesh Arya, when both were directors of Best Deal TV and Shetty held over 87% of the company’s shares. During a meeting, it was agreed that Kothari would extend a ₹75 crore loan to the company at 12% annual interest. Later, the couple allegedly told him that showing the amount as a loan could raise tax issues, and suggested treating it as an investment with monthly returns.
In April 2015, Kothari made the first payment of ₹31.95 crore. Further payments totalling ₹28.54 crore were made between July 2015 and March 2016, bringing the total investment to ₹60.48 crore. He also paid ₹3.19 lakh towards stamp duty. Kothari claims Shetty personally guaranteed the deal in April 2016 but resigned as a company director in September the same year.
He further alleged that the company later defaulted on a separate ₹1.28 crore loan without his knowledge. Despite repeated demands, no repayment or satisfactory response was provided.
The case was initially registered at Juhu Police Station under charges of cheating and forgery but was transferred to the EOW as the disputed amount exceeded ₹10 crore.
Advocate Prashant Patil, representing Shetty and Kundra, told Divya Bhaskar that the transaction in question was “purely an equity investment” and that the company had already been placed under a liquidation order, a fact communicated to the police. “Over the past year, our chartered accountant has visited the police station more than 15 times and submitted all relevant documents. This case is entirely baseless and malicious, intended to damage our clients’ reputation. We are taking appropriate legal action against the culprits,” Patil stated.
