ED summons Raj Kundra for questioning in money laundering case

Mumbai: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned businessman Raj Kundra, the husband of actor Shilpa Shetty, for questioning in a money laundering case linked to the alleged illegal distribution of pornographic movies, official sources said on Sunday.

They said Kundra has been asked to depose before the investigating officer of the case this week. Some others involved in the case have also been summoned, the sources added.

The central agency raided the premises of Kundra in Mumbai and those of other persons located in some cities of Uttar Pradesh on December 29.

Kundra said on Saturday that he was "fully complying" with the ongoing investigation that has been unfolding for the last four years.

Shetty's lawyer had told PTI that the action was not against the actor and that Kundra was "cooperating in the investigation for the truth to come out." The money laundering case of May 2022 stems from at least two Mumbai Police FIRs and chargesheets filed against Kundra and others. The businessman and some others were arrested in the case and later granted bail.

This is the second money laundering case against Kundra. Early this year, the ED had attached assets worth Rs 98 crore of Kundra and Shetty in a cryptocurrency case. The couple, however, obtained relief from the Bombay High Court against this attachment order.

The businessman told a local Mumbai court in 2021 that there was not even an iota of evidence with the prosecution (Mumbai Police) that would connect the app 'Hotshots', used in the alleged porn films racket, with an offence under the law.

According to the probe agency, the 'Hotshots' app was being used by accused persons for uploading and streaming obscene content.

Kundra had claimed there was no evidence of him being "actively" involved in the creation of alleged porn content.

He had claimed he was falsely implicated and was not even named in the FIR and was dragged by the respondent (police) in the case.

The businessman claimed in the plea that he is being made a "scapegoat" for reasons best known to investigators.

The police had filed FIRs on the basis of complaints received from two women, while another woman had submitted a complaint at the Lonavla police station, around 120 km from Mumbai.

During the investigation, it came to light that some small-time artistes were lured with the promise of giving them breaks in some web series or short stories, police had said.

These actors were called for auditions and were asked to act 'bold' scenes which later turned out to be semi-nude or nude scenes, which were against the wishes of the actors, the official had said.

During the police investigation, it also came to light that there are many 'porn-like apps' (applications) operating in cyberspace.

The police had told the court that its probe found that Kundra set up Armsprime Media Pvt Ltd, which, through London-based Kenrin Pvt Ltd, bought the Hotshots app to upload "objectionable videos" on social media.

Kundra's phone contained WhatsApp chats regarding Kenrin and its financial transactions. These conversations also revealed that he had discussed selling 119 adult films to a person for USD 1.2 million, police had said.