The Enforcement Directorate (ED) also seized the Juhu flat belonging to Raj Kundra’s wife and Bollywood actor, Shilpa Shetty, along with their Pune bungalow.
Rajkundra made headlines yet again, this time for all the wrong reasons. On Thursday (April 18), Rajkundra, along with his wife and actor Shilpa Shetty, landed in legal trouble when their property worth Rs 97.79 Crore was seized by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). As per the details shared by the ED, a residential flat in Juhu, Mumbai, which is under the name of Shilpa Shetty, a residential bungalow in Pune, and equity shares in Kundra’s name have been attached.
The attachments are a component of the Enforcement Directorate’s measures in a case involving purported Bitcoin investment fraud, which is currently under investigation with Raj Kundra’s involvement. Several FIRs were registered by Maharashtra Police and Delhi Police against Variable Tech Pte Ltd, (late) Amit Bhardwaj, Ajay Bhardwaj, Vivek Bhardwaj, Simpy Bhardwaj, Mahender Bhardwaj, and several multiple-level marketing (MLM) agents.
Let’s understand what the Rs 6,600 Crore Investment Fraud Case is about.
In 2017, Bitcoin was a new source of investment in the market and attracted several investors. All these investors were given the guarantee of massive gains by Amit Bhardwaj, Ajay Bhardwaj, and Mahender Bhardwaj. Later, the group of individuals began with the Gain Bitcoin Ponzi scheme through a company named Variable Tech Pte Ltd.
According to the details revealed during the investigations, this group of men collected Bitcoins worth Rs 6,600 crore (at the time) from overly-trustful investors. The promoters of the company promised the investors to use Bitcoin mining to earn returns of 10% per month in crypto assets. To make it easier to understand, the group of men initially gave investors the high returns that were promised. However, later, they started to default.
Why, When, and How Did ED Begin an Action on The Case?
Following the onset of defaults, certain individuals who were purportedly victims of the fraud approached the police. Subsequently, in 2018-19, both the Maharashtra Police and Delhi Police initiated numerous FIRs. Criminal proceedings were commenced against Variable Tech Pte Ltd, along with its promoters Amit Bhardwaj, Ajay Bhardwaj, Vivek Bhardwaj, Simpy Bhardwaj, and Mahender Bhardwaj, alongside various multi-level marketing (MLM) agents, for their alleged involvement in investment fraud.
On the basis of these cases, an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) was registered by the ED, which is equivalent to an FIR. Post this, ED began a money laundering investigation. ED claims that the investors had been cheated by the company promoters and they even concealed ill-gotten Bitcoin in obscure online wallets.
In 2018, Amit Bhardwaj and Vivek Bharadwaj were put behind bars and currently are in judicial custody. Ajay Bhardwaj and Mahender Bhardwaj are yet to be arrested.
How Was Rajkundra Involved in the Bitcoin Case?
During the investigation of the money laundering case, the ED found that Ripu Sudan Kundra, alias Raj Kundra, allegedly received 285 Bitcoins from Amit Bhardwaj. Raj wanted to set up a Bitcoin mining farm in Ukraine.
The Bitcoins in question were purportedly obtained from illicit gains collected by Amit Bhardwaj from unsuspecting investors. Nonetheless, as per the Enforcement Directorate (ED), the transaction did not come to fruition, leaving Kundra with possession of 285 Bitcoins, currently valued at over Rs 150 crore.
Prior to taking action against Raj Kundra, the ED had seized properties worth Rs 69 crore belonging to other suspects in the case. Kundra was initially interrogated by the ED in June 2018.
