Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty and her husband Raj Kundra have been charged with defrauding a Mumbai-based businessman of 60 crore rupees.
The case is connected to a loan-cum-investment deal for the celebrity couple’s now-defunct Best Deal TV Pvt Ltd.
The couple has denied the allegations, calling them “baseless and malicious.”
Businessman Deepak Kothari has alleged that between 2015 and 2023, he provided 60.48 crore rupees for business expansion, but the couple diverted the funds for personal expenses.
Kothari claims he was introduced to Shetty-Kundra through an agent named Rajesh Arya, who arranged a deal with 12% annual interest.
According to Kothari, Shetty personally guaranteed the investment in April 2016, but resigned as the company’s director just months later in September.
The case was initially filed at Juhu Police Station but was later transferred to the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) since the amount exceeded 10 crore rupees.
Through their lawyer Prashant Patil, the couple responded: “This is nothing but a baseless and malicious case aimed at maligning our clients.
The allegations are civil in nature, and there is no criminality involved.” The EOW is currently investigating the matter.
