Mumbai: Mumbai Police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW) have booked Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty and her husband Raj Kundra for allegedly defrauding Mumbai-based businessman Deepak Kothari of Rs 60.4 crore.
Kothari, director of Lotus Capital Finance Services, alleged in his complaint with Mumbai Police that he had given a loan of Rs 60.4 crore to Kundra and his wife Shilpa for their business expansion, but later found that the money was used for their personal use.
However, an audio clip of the conversation between Kundra and Kothari has surfaced online, which suggests that the allegations against Shilpa and her husband are baseless.
In the viral audio, shared by Filmygyan on its official Instagram handle, a man, apparently Kothari, is heard saying that the money given to Kundra and Shilpa were for an equity investment, and not a loan for business expansion.
Another voice, said to be of Kundra, is heard saying, “Karza toh liya nahi tha maine aapne, yeh baat maan ni padegi aapko. (I haven’t taken any loan from you. You have to admit this.)”
Check out the audio clip here:
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Following the complaint, Shilpa and Raj’s lawyer Prashant Patil issued a statement, calling the allegations “baseless and malicious”.
He also said that appropriate action will be taken from his client’s side against the perpetrators.
“This is an old transaction, wherein the company went into financial distress and eventually got entangled in a long legal battle at the NCLT. There is no criminality involved, and our auditors have submitted all the necessary supporting documents from time to time, as requested by the EOW, including detailed cash flow statements,” said advocate Patil.
He added, “The investment agreement in question is purely in the nature of an equity investment. The company has already received a liquidation order, which has also been placed before the police department. The concerned Charter accounts have visited the police station for the last one year for more than 15 times with all the evidence supporting the claims of my clients.”
