The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday carried out raids at the residence and office of businessman Raj Kundra, husband of actor Shilpa Shetty, in Mumbai, in a money laundering investigation linked to a porn network case against him. The agency is also searching the premises of Kundra’s associates, according to officials.
According to the case details, aspiring models and actors were lured with promises of movie roles but were coerced into participating in pornographic films. The shoots typically took place in rented bungalows or apartments in Mumbai.
During the shoots, the accused would ask the actresses to act according to a different script and also pressured them to perform nude scenes. Those who refused were reportedly threatened and made to bear the production costs of the shoot.
Kundra was arrested in June 2021 on charges of allegedly producing pornographic films. He was later granted bail in September 2021, after spending two months in jail.
Earlier this year, Raj Kundra was caught in the ED net after it attached his assets, including a residential flat in Juhu, Mumbai, a bungalow in Pune, and equity shares, worth Rs 98 crore, as part of a money laundering investigation linked to the Gain Bitcoin Ponzi Scam.
The legal trouble stemmed from a probe initiated by the ED in 2018, when they began probing Amit Bharadwaj for his involvement in a Ponzi scheme. While Shilpa Shetty and Raj Kundra were not initially named as suspects, they were notified in April 2024 that their assets were being provisionally attached as part of the case. Both Raj and Shilpa maintained their innocence, claiming they have cooperated fully with the ED’s investigation. Raj has attended multiple summonses in person, and Shilpa has provided documentation via her authorized representatives.
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