‘Baseless, malicious’: Indian actress Shilpa Shetty, husband Raj Kundra deny Rs 600mn fraud case

Businessman Deepak Kothari has accused the actress and her businessman husband, Raj Kundra, of cheating him

Indian actress Shilpa Shetty and her husband, businessman Raj Kundra, say another businessman’s accusations in a Rs 600 million fraud case against them are "baseless and malicious” and aimed at maligning their reputation.

There is "no criminality involved”, they said.

Businessman Deepak Kothari accused the couple of cheating him, and the Economic Offences Wing of Mumbai Police filed an FIR against Shetty and Kundra, NDTV reports.

Kothari, director of Lotus Capital Financial Services Limited, has alleged that the couple took money from him to expand their business but used it for personal expenses.

The businessman has said that the celebrity couple approached him in 2015 and sought a Rs 750 million loan for their company, TV shopping channel Best Deal TV Private Limited, at a 12 percent interest rate.

They later asked him to give them the funds as an "investment" instead of a loan and assured him of monthly returns and repayment of principal.

Kothari said he transferred Rs 310 million in April 2015 under a share subscription agreement and Rs 280 million in September 2015 under a supplementary agreement. The amount was credited to Best Deal TV's bank accounts.

The businessman said in his complaint that repeated attempts to recover the funds failed, and he accused the couple of "dishonestly using" the money. The Economic Offences Wing is currently investigating the matter.

The couple's lawyer, Advocate Prashant Patil, has now put out a statement.

"My clients have been informed by a certain segment of electronic and print media that there is an alleged case registered against my clients at the Economic Offences Wing, Mumbai.

"At the outset, my clients deny all the allegations against them, which are purely civil in nature and have been adjudicated by the NCLT Mumbai on 04/10/2024. This is an old transaction, wherein the company went into financial distress and eventually got entangled in a long legal battle at the NCLT," the lawyer said.

"There is no criminality involved, and our auditors have submitted all the necessary supporting documents from time to time, as requested by the EOW, including detailed cash flow statements. The investment agreement in question is purely in the nature of an equity investment," the statement added.

The lawyer said he received a liquidation order that had been placed before the police. "The concerned Charter accounts have visited the police station for the last year more than 15 times with all the evidence supporting the claims of my clients," he said.

"This is nothing but a baseless and malicious case aimed at maligning our clients, and appropriate action is being initiated from our side against the perpetrators," the lawyer said.

Last year, Kundra made headlines when his premises were searched by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with a money laundering case. In 2021, he was arrested in a case linked to the production and streaming of pornographic films. He was later granted bail.