Actress Shilpa Shetty's husband, Raj Kundra has been summoned by a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in a case involving bitcoin fraud of over Rs 6,000 crore
Raj Kundra
The special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court has issued a summons to actress Shilpa Shetty’s husband and businessman Raj Kundra, along with New Delhi-based businessman Rajesh Satija. The court noted that the prosecution's complaint and the record of the case show that he is prima facie involved in the offence of money laundering.
Raj Kundra summoned
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had earlier filed a supplementary prosecution complaint with regard to a money-laundering probe in Rs 6,606 crore bitcoin scam involving Delhi-based company Variabletech Pvt Ltd (VTPL). The complaint was filed against Kundra and Satija, last year. The special court took cognisance of the complaint and said, “There is sufficient material to proceed against accused Nos.17 (Kundra) and accused no 18 (Rajesh Ram Satija) for the offence under section 3 punishable under section 4 of the PMLA. The ED has made out a prima facie case to take cognisance and to proceed against accused Nos.17 and 18 for the offence under section 3 punishable under section 4 of the PMLA and to issue proceedings against them.”
The court also noted that the allegation made by the ED stated that, “Kundra has received proceeds of crime in the form of Bitcoins and he continued to be in possession and enjoyment of the said proceeds of crime."
About the case
Kundra allegedly received 285 Bitcoins from the mastermind and promoter of Gain Bitcoin Ponzi scam Amit Bhardwaj, to set up a Bitcoin mining farm in Ukraine. ED claimed that the deal did not materialise and hence, Kundra is still in possession of 285 Bitcoins presently valued at more than Rs 150 crore.
The charge sheet mentioned that Kundra claimed to have acted as a mediator in the transaction but didn't provide "any underlying documentary evidence to prove the same".
On the other hand, the agreement titled "Term Sheet" was signed between him and Mahendra Bhardwaj. "Thus, it can be safely concluded that the agreement was actually between Raj Kundra and Amit Bhardwaj (his father Mahender Bhardwaj) and the argument given by Kundra that he acted as a mere mediator is not tenable," the charge sheet stated.
The chargesheet further claimed that the fact that Kundra remembers the exact number of Bitcoins received in five specific tranches for more than seven years since the transactions took place "solidifies the fact that he was indeed the recipient of Bitcoins as a beneficial owner and not acted merely as a mediator."
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