By Grace Cyril,News18

Copyright news18

The Bombay High Court has denied actress Shilpa Shetty and her husband, businessman Raj Kundra, permission to travel overseas for a planned family vacation to Phuket, Thailand. The order comes against the backdrop of an ongoing probe into a Ts 60 crore fraud case, in which the couple is facing serious allegations.
Vacation plea turned down
The couple had moved the court seeking suspension of a lookout circular issued by Mumbai Police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW). They argued that they had already made confirmed bookings for travel and accommodation in Phuket between October 2 and 5. However, the High Court dismissed their request, citing the pending investigation.
Their legal representatives, Niranjan Mundargi and Keral Mehta, told the court that despite a 2021 case against them, the couple had always returned from foreign trips and cooperated with investigators. They maintained that this track record should allow them permission to travel.
The Rs 60 crore fraud case
The case was registered following a complaint by Deepak Kothari, director of Lotus Capital Financial Services. Kothari alleged that between 2015 and 2023, he invested Rs 60.48 crore in Best Deal TV Pvt. Ltd., a company linked to the couple, for business expansion. According to the complaint, the funds were instead diverted for personal use.
After a preliminary inquiry, the EOW booked Shetty, Kundra, and another accused under IPC sections 403 (dishonest misappropriation of property), 406 (criminal breach of trust), and 34 (common intention). Investigators have reportedly traced close to ₹25 crore of the transferred amount, including transactions to four actresses and production houses, among them Bipasha Basu, Neha Dhupia, and Balaji Entertainment.
The bitcoin case
Raj Kundra is also under investigation by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with cryptocurrency transactions. The ED’s chargesheet accuses him of being the beneficial owner of 285 Bitcoins, valued at over Rs 150 crore, which he allegedly received from late crypto scam mastermind Amit Bhardwaj.
The agency claims Kundra concealed crucial evidence, including wallet addresses, and failed to surrender the Bitcoins. According to the chargesheet, “it can be safely concluded that the agreement was actually between Raj Kundra and Amit Bhardwaj and the argument given by Kundra that he acted as a mere mediator is not tenable.”
The ED alleges that Kundra layered the cryptocurrency to project it as untainted and also conducted a transaction with Shilpa Shetty “at a far below market rate” to disguise its origins. Despite multiple opportunities since 2018, Kundra has not provided complete wallet details, citing issues such as a damaged phone, which investigators believe was an attempt to destroy evidence.
Alongside Kundra, businessman Rajesh Satija has also been named in the chargesheet. The proceedings are being heard by a special court under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Shilpa Shetty’s response
Recent reports claimed that around Rs 15 crore was transferred to a company owned by Shilpa Shetty. The actress’s lawyer has strongly refuted these allegations, calling them “fake” and “intentionally planted” to harm her reputation.
“At the outset, we would like to state that this information is totally fake and mischievous, intentionally planted in the public domain to defame my client,” the lawyer said in a statement. “We will get to the bottom of this and take legal action, including criminal proceedings and civil claims, against all news articles that have been circulated to defame my client.”
The statement further clarified: “No such amount was ever received by my client Mrs Shilpa Shetty Kundra and at this stage, we cannot reveal anything further as the matter is sub judice.”
The legal team stressed that Shilpa Shetty remains willing to cooperate with investigating agencies but will pursue remedies against what they describe as a targeted “defamatory campaign.”
“My clients are moving the Honourable Bombay High Court for seeking relief against the defamatory campaign adopted by certain media outlets… for all the articles, whomsoever have published online news about fake stories and unverified facts shall face the consequences for their actions in the court of law,” the lawyer’s statement concluded.