The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday seized property price a whopping Rs 98 crore, which features a luxurious bungalow in Pune and fairness shares, all belonging to the famend actor Shilpa Shetty and her entrepreneur husband Raj Kundra. The case revolves across the misuse of investor funds by means of the digital forex, Bitcoin. The seized properties comprise a luxurious residential flat within the upscale Juhu space of Mumbai, at present registered underneath Shetty’s identify, and a residential bungalow in Pune together with fairness shares, all in Kundra’s identify.
The ED has issued a provisional attachment order underneath the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), successfully freezing these properties valued at Rs 97.79 crore.
The roots of this cash laundering case hint again to FIRs lodged by the Maharashtra Police and Delhi Police towards an organization named Variable Tech Pte Ltd and several other people together with Late Amit Bhardwaj, Ajay Bhardwaj, Vivek Bhardwaj, Simpy Bhardwaj, Mahender Bhardwaj, and quite a few brokers. It was alleged that that they had amassed a staggering quantity of funds within the type of Bitcoins (valued at Rs 6,600 crore in 2017) from unsuspecting public, luring them with false guarantees of a ten% month-to-month return within the type of Bitcoins.
The promoters are accused of duping the traders and concealing the ill-gotten Bitcoins in obscure on-line wallets. The ED has alleged that Kundra obtained 285 Bitcoins from Amit Bhardwaj, the mastermind and promoter of the Gain Bitcoin Ponzi rip-off, for establishing a Bitcoin mining farm in Ukraine.
Interestingly, Kundra continues to be in possession of those 285 Bitcoins, that are at present valued at over Rs 150 crore, as per the ED’s assertion.
