Shilpa Shetty, Raj Kundra booked for defrauding businessman of Rs 60 crore
The complaint, filed by Deepak Kothari, director of Lotus Capital Financial Services, accuses the couple of conspiring to cheat him between 2015 and 2023.
PTC News Desk: Actor Shilpa Shetty, her husband Raj Kundra, and one other person have been booked for allegedly defrauding a Mumbai-based businessman of over ₹60 crore in a deal linked to their now-defunct company, Best Deal TV Pvt. Ltd.
The complaint, filed by Deepak Kothari, director of Lotus Capital Financial Services, accuses the couple of conspiring to cheat him between 2015 and 2023. Kothari said he was introduced to Shetty and Kundra—then majority shareholders with 87.6% stake in Best Deal TV—by Rajesh Arya. Initially, they sought a ₹75 crore loan at 12% interest, but later convinced him to treat the amount as an “investment” to reduce tax liabilities, assuring monthly returns and repayment of the principal.
Based on these promises, Kothari claimed he transferred ₹31.95 crore in April 2015 under a share subscription agreement, followed by another ₹28.53 crore in September 2015 through a supplementary agreement. The total amount was allegedly deposited into Best Deal TV’s HDFC Bank accounts.
The case adds to the couple’s ongoing legal woes. Earlier this year, they faced allegations from investor Prithviraj Kothari over a gold scheme fraud. Kundra, who was arrested in 2021 in a pornographic content case and later released on bail, is also being investigated in a separate Bitcoin-related money laundering probe.