Bollywood actor Shilpa Shetty and her husband, businessman Raj Kundra, have been booked by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police in connection with an alleged ₹60.48 crore fraud involving their now-defunct company, Best Deal TV Pvt Ltd.
The complaint was filed by Deepak Kothari, a 60-year-old businessman and director of Lotus Capital Financial Services Ltd, who claims he was misled into investing the amount between 2015 and 2016. Kothari alleges that he was introduced to the couple through an intermediary, Rajesh Arya, and was persuaded to invest ₹75 crore in the company under the guise of a loan at 12% annual interest. However, the couple allegedly advised him to treat the transaction as an “investment” to avoid tax liabilities, promising monthly returns and repayment of the principal.
Kothari transferred ₹31.95 crore in April 2015 under a share subscription agreement and ₹28.53 crore in September 2015 through a supplementary agreement. Despite receiving a personal guarantee from Shilpa Shetty in April 2016, she resigned as director later that year. In 2017, Kothari discovered that insolvency proceedings had been initiated against the company, and his repeated attempts to recover the funds were unsuccessful.
The FIR has been registered under IPC sections 403 (dishonest misappropriation of property), 406 (criminal breach of trust), and 34 (common intention). The EOW is currently investigating the money trail and the roles of all individuals involved.
In response, the couple’s lawyer, Advocate Prashant Patil, has dismissed the allegations as “baseless and malicious,” stating that the matter is civil in nature and had already been adjudicated by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) in October 2024. He emphasized that there is “no criminality involved” and that all necessary documents, including cash flow statements, have been submitted to the authorities.
This case adds to Raj Kundra’s ongoing legal troubles, including a previous arrest in 2021 related to the production and streaming of adult content. The investigation into the current allegations is ongoing.
