The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has announced the provisional attachment of assets belonging to businessman Raj Kundra and actress Shilpa Shetty, valued at over Rs 97 crore, in connection with a Rs 6600 crore Bitcoin Ponzi scheme.
In a statement issued on Thursday afternoon, the agency stated, “ED, Mumbai has provisionally attached immovable and movable properties worth Rs. 97.79 Crore belonging to Ripu Sudan Kundra aka Raj Kundra under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. The attached properties include a residential flat situated in Juhu, presently in the name of Smt. Shilpa Shetty, a residential bungalow located in Pune, and equity shares registered under the name of Raj Kundra.”
The ED’s action comes as part of its ongoing investigation into alleged money laundering activities involving Kundra. The investigation was initiated based on multiple FIRs registered by Maharashtra Police and Delhi Police against M/s Variable Tech Pte Ltd, Late Amit Bhardwaj, Ajay Bhardwaj, Vivek Bhardwaj, Simpy Bhardwaj, Mahender Bhardwaj, and a number of MLM agents.
The agency has alleged that significant amounts of funds were collected in the form of Bitcoins, amounting to Rs 6600 crore in 2017 alone, from the ‘gullible public’ with false promises of a 10% per month return in the form of Bitcoins. “The collected Bitcoins were supposed to be utilized for Bitcoin mining, and investors were supposed to get huge returns in Crypto assets. But the promoters cheated the investors and have been concealing the ill-gotten Bitcoins in obscure online wallets,” the statement read.
The ED also revealed that Raj Kundra received 285 Bitcoins from the mastermind and promoter of the Gain Bitcoin Ponzi Scam, Amit Bhardwaj, for setting up a Bitcoin mining farm in Ukraine. “Since the deal didn’t materialize, Kundra is still in possession and enjoyment of 285 Bitcoins which are presently valued at more than Rs. 150 Crore,” the ED said.
Previously, multiple search operations were conducted in connection with this case, leading to the arrest of three individuals – Simpy Bhardwaj on December 17, 2023, Nitin Gaur on December 29, 2023, and Nikhil Mahajan on January 16, 2023. All three individuals are currently in judicial custody. The main accused, Ajay Bhardwaj and Mahendra Bhardwaj, are still absconding.
