Mumbai: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday attached the properties of Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty and her husband Ripu Sudan Kundra, alias Raj Kundra.
In a statement, the agency announced its decision to provisionally attach immovable and movable properties belonging to Ripu Sudan Kundra, also known as Raj Kundra, under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
The statement read, "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 PMLA, 2002. The attached properties include residential flat situated in Juhu presently in the name of Smt. Shilpa Shetty, a residential bungalow situated in Pune, and equity shares in the name of Raj Kundra."
Kundra was arrested by the Mumbai Police along with 11 others in July 2021 for allegedly making pornographic films and uploading them onto certain apps for circulation.
After spending two months in jail, Kundra secured bail in the case in September 2021, though he maintained he was innocent and was being implicated in a false case.
Later, in May 2022, the ED stepped into the picture and filed a PMLA case against Kundra and others for investigating the money laundering angle in the sensational case.
The ED claimed that in February 2019, Kundra had launched a company, Arms Prime Media Ltd., and developed an app, ‘Hotshots’, which was later sold to Kenrin, based in the United Kingdom, and headed by Pradeep Bakshi (incidentally, the brother-in-law of Kundra).