Raj Kundra in soup: ED seizes nearly Rs 100 crore properties, including Shilpa Shetty’s flat; know why

The Enforcement Directorate (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 properties that have been attached include a residential flat situated in Juhu presently in the name of Shilpa Shetty, a Residential Bungalow situated in Pune and Equity shares in the name of Raj Kundra.

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 a Residential flat situated in Juhu presently in the name of Shilpa… pic.twitter.com/eOBzZA6ZSM

— ANI (@ANI) April 18, 2024

According to the sources, the action against Raj Kundra has come under the probe linked to a Bitcoin Ponzi scam under which he collected Rs 6,600 in 2017. The Ponzi scheme is a fraud where investors are promised bank insurance fund (bif) profit at little or no risk. In this case, Kundra made the false promise of a 10% per month return in the form of bitcoins. But the conman did not invest the money, instead, focused on luring more people and paid profits to the initial investors with funds from more recent ones.

The probe was launched by the investigation agency after multiple complaints filed by Maharashtra and Delhi Police against Variable Tech Private Limited, late Amit Bhardwaj, Ajay Bhardwaj, Vivek Bhardwaj, Simpy Bhardwaj, Mahender Bhardwaj and others.

The probe agency during the investigation learnt that Raj Kundra had received 285 Bitcoins from Amit Bhardwaj, the mastermind behind the Gain Bitcoin Ponzi scheme that was intended for establishing a Bitcoin mining farm in Ukraine. However, the deal did not accomplish, leaving Kundra in possession of the Bitcoins which are currently valued at more than Rs 150 Crore.