Actor Shilpa Shetty and her husband Raj Kundra were booked by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) for allegedly cheating a Mumbai-based businessman of Rs 60.4 crore in connection with a loan-cum-investment
deal. Another unknown person was also charged in connection with the incident.
The complainant, Deepak Kothari, 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. According to Kothari, he invested the amount between 2015 and 2023 under the pretext of expanding a business, but the money was allegedly misused for personal expenses.
The case has now been handed over to the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) for further investigation as the amount involved exceeded Rs 10 crore. Kothari alleged that an individual named Rajesh Arya introduced him to Shetty and Kundra, who were directors of Best Deal TV, a home shopping and online retail platform, at the time.
Kothari said Arya requested a loan of ₹75 crore for the company at an annual interest rate of 12%. However, to reduce the tax burden, he proposed presenting the amount as an “investment.”
The Juhu businessman said he had transferred Rs 31.95 crore in April 2015, and Rs 28.54 crore between July 2015 and March 2016. In total, he had transferred over Rs 60.48 crore for the deal, besides paying Rs 3.19 lakh as stamp duty, according to a report by NDTV.
However, Shetty resigned as the company’s director after a few months. An insolvency case of Rs 1.28 crore emerged against the company, of which Kothari was unaware. He requested the return of his money, but his requests fell on deaf ears.
