Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI Sept 5: The Mumbai Police has issued a Lookout Circular (LOC) against Bollywood actor Shilpa Shetty and her businessman husband Raj Kundra in a multi-crore fraud case, officials said on Friday.
The celebrity couple is accused of defrauding a businessman of about Rs 60 crore in a case linked to an investment deal for their now-defunct Best Deal TV Pvt Ltd. The LOC was issued by the Economic Offences Wing of the Mumbai police as the couple makes frequent international trips, an official said.
A case was registered against the actor and her husband at Juhu police station on August 14 for allegedly duping a businessman of nearly ₹60 crore in a loan-cum-investment deal, he said. Economic Offences Wing (EOW) sources suggest the police are now investigating the travel logs of Ms Shetty and Mr Kundra. The firm’s auditor has also been called for questioning.
Businessman Deepak Kothari had alleged that between 2015 and 2023, the couple had taken Rs 60 crore from him under the pretext of expanding their business, but spent it on personal expenses. The couple had allegedly taken the money as a loan but later showed it as an investment, citing tax savings.
Mr Kothari, director of Lotus Capital Financial Services, said he was introduced to the couple by Rajesh Arya. At the time, the couple controlled 87.6 per cent of Best Deal TV’s shares. According to Kothari, the pair initially sought a loan of Rs 75 crore at 12 per cent interest but later persuaded him to route the funds as an ‘investment’ to reduce taxation, with promises of monthly returns and principal repayment.
Relying on these assurances, Mr Kothari claimed he transferred Rs 31.95 crore in April 2015 under a share subscription agreement and an additional Rs 28.53 crore in September 2015 through a supplementary agreement. The amounts were credited to the company’s HDFC Bank accounts.
According to Mr Kothari, he was assured that the money would be returned within a certain time with 12% annual interest and that Ms Shetty had given him a personal guarantee in writing in April 2016. However, Shilpa Shetty resigned as director of the firm in September 2016.
The businessman claimed he later found out that an insolvency case of Rs 1.28 crore was also going on against the company, regarding which he was not informed earlier. By 2017, insolvency proceedings were initiated against Best Deal TV for defaulting on another agreement. Mr Kothari alleged repeated attempts to recover the funds via Arya failed, prompting the formal complaint. Mumbai Police have registered an FIR under Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) sections 403, 406, and 34.
A Lookout Circular is a mechanism used to prevent a person from leaving the country or to track their movements, typically by issuing an alert to immigration and border control points. Ms Shetty and Mr Kundra had denied the allegations and called it a baseless and malicious case aimed at maligning them.
The latest complaint deepens the couple’s legal woes. Earlier this year, Prithviraj Kothari, managing director of Riddhi Siddhi Bullions, accused Shilpa Shetty and Raj Kundra of defrauding an investor in a gold scheme. Kundra, arrested by Mumbai Police in 2021 over an adult content case and later granted bail, is also facing a separate money laundering probe connected to Bitcoin fraud.
