Mumbai Police issued a Look Out Circular (LoC) against actor Shilpa Shetty and her husband Raj Kundra in a Rs 60 crore cheating case, an official told news agency PTI.
A case was registered by the Mumbai Police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW) based on a complaint by Deepak Kothari, who accused Shilpa Shetty and Raj Kundra of cheating him.
An LoC is an alert issued to immigration authorities to stop or restrict a person under investigation from leaving the country.
The complainant has alleged that the couple defrauded him of over Rs 60 crore, which involved Shetty and Kundra’s now-defunct company, Best Deal TV Pvt Ltd. He alleged that between 2015 and 2023, he invested the amount with them under the pretext of business expansion. However, instead of using the funds for business, the money was allegedly diverted towards personal expenses.
Shilpa Shetty and Raj Kundra’s lawyer had earlier denied the allegations, saying they were purely civil in nature and had been adjudicated by the NCLT Mumbai on October 4, 2024.
“This is an old transaction… There is no criminality involved, and our auditors have submitted all the necessary supporting documents from time to time, as requested by the EOW, including detailed cash flow statements," said advocate Prashant Patil.
The offence was initially registered at Juhu police station under relevant sections related to cheating and forgery. However, since the amount involved exceeded Rs 10 crore, the matter was transferred to the EOW.
Kothari, a Juhu resident and director of Lotus Capital Financial Services, stated that one Rajesh Arya had introduced him to Shilpa Shetty and Raj Kundra, who at the time were directors of Best Deal TV Pvt Ltd, a home shopping and online retail platform. The couple reportedly held 87.6 per cent of the company’s shares.
The accused allegedly sought a loan of Rs 75 crore at an interest rate of 12 per cent but later convinced him to channel the money as an “investment" to avoid higher taxation, while promising monthly returns along with repayment of the principal.
Kothari claims he transferred Rs 31.9 crore in April 2015 under a share subscription agreement, followed by another Rs 28.53 crore in September 2015 under a supplementary agreement.
The FIR states that despite offering a personal guarantee in April 2016, Shilpa Shetty resigned as director in September 2016.
Kothari later learned that the company had entered bankruptcy proceedings in 2017 after defaulting on another agreement.
