Mumbai: Amid a probe by Mumbai Police into the Rs 60-crore fraud case and reports of an Income Tax raid at her house, actress Shilpa Shetty Kundra chose to speak out.
In a statement, Shilpa denied any wrongdoing and stated that she is “deeply saddened by the baseless attempt to link my name to this matter”.
She clarified her non-executive role in the company linked to the case. “My association with the company was strictly in a non-executive capacity, with no role in its operations, finances, decision making or any signing authority. In fact like several other public figures, I had endorsed certain products for the home shopping channel, in a professional capacity, for which payments due to me remain outstanding.”
“I want to put it on record that almost 20 Cr rupees has been loaned to the company by us as a family and the said amount remains unpaid. The mischievous attempt to impute criminal liability on me, pa
rticularly after an unexplained delay of nearly nine years is legally unsustainable and contrary to settled principles of law,” she added.
“Despite these facts, my name continues to be unnecessarily dragged into the proceedings, which is both distressing and unjustified. Such unwarranted allegations not only misrepresent facts but also result in a woman’s dignity, integrity, and reputation being unfairly trampled upon in the public domain.”
“As quoted in the Bhagavad Gita, ‘Failing to oppose injustice when it is your duty, is itself Adharma.’ With a quashing petition already filed before the Honourable Bombay High Court , I have complete faith in the judicial process and will be seeking appropriate legal remedies to protect my rights and reputation,” she concluded.
Earlier, Shilpa and her businessman husband Raj Kundra’s lawyer Prashant Patil rubbished reports about a reported IT raid at her house.
Shilpa and Raj are being investigated by Mumbai Police in a criminal breach of trust case, after a complaint was filed by 60-year-old businessman Deepak Kothari, who alleged that he was duped of Rs 60.4 crore in a loan-cum-investment deal linked to their company, Best Deal TV Pvt Ltd.
The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) has invoked a cheating charge against the couple in addition to criminal breach of trust.