Mumbai: The Economic Offences Wing has booked Bollywood actor Shilpa Shetty Kundra, her businessman husband Raj Kundra, and an unidentified person for allegedly defrauding a Mumbai businessman of Rs 60.4 crore, police said Thursday.

The alleged fraud is linked to a loan-cum-investment deal involving the couple’s now-defunct firm, Best Deal TV Pvt. Ltd., according to police.

Businessman Deepak Kothari alleged the couple jointly cheated him of more than Rs 60 crore, saying the money he provided between 2015 and 2023 for business expansion was instead used for personal expenses, police said. 

The offence was first registered at Juhu police station under sections related to cheating and forgery. Because the amount involved exceeded Rs 10 crore, the case was transferred to the Economic Offences Wing, police said.

The FIR was filed after a preliminary inquiry into a complaint by Deepak Kothari, a Juhu resident and director of Lotus Capital Financial Services. Kothari said one Rajesh Arya introduced him to the Bollywood couple, who were then directors of Best Deal TV Pvt. Ltd., a home shopping and online retail platform. The couple allegedly held 87.6% of the company’s shares.

According to the complainant, the accused initially sought a Rs 75 crore loan at 12 percent interest, but later persuaded Kothari to route the funds as an “investment” to avoid higher taxes, police said. They allegedly promised him monthly returns along with repayment of the principal.

Kothari claims he transferred Rs 31.9 crore in April 2015 under a share subscription agreement, followed by another Rs 28.53 crore in September 2015 under a supplementary agreement.

The FIR states that despite offering a personal guarantee in April 2016, Shilpa Shetty resigned as director in September 2016.

Kothari later learned that the company had entered bankruptcy proceedings in 2017 after defaulting on another agreement.

Investigations into the matter are currently underway, and further details are awaited. IANS