Actor Shilpa Shetty might face the heat of the questioning of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for her alleged connection with the multi crore Bitcoin ponzi scam, according to the reports.
On April 18, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) attached assets worth Rs 97.79 crore belonging to Shilpa Shetty’s husband Raj Kundra under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) 2002. This included a Juhu flat registered in the actress’s name, along with shares and other properties, in connection with a Bitcoin ponzi scheme of nearly Rs 7,000 crore.
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The ED attached properties including a bungalow in Pune and equity shares in Raj Kundra’s name. This action followed several FIRs filed by the Maharashtra Police and Delhi Police against Variable Tech Private Limited and other individuals such as the late Amit Bhardwaj, Ajay Bhardwaj, Vivek Bhardwaj, Simpy Bhardwaj, and Mahender Bhardwaj.
These individuals are accused of collecting large sums of funds in Bitcoin worth Rs 6,600 crore in 2017 under false promises of a 10% monthly return. The Bitcoin collected was intended for Bitcoin mining, promising significant returns in cryptocurrency assets.
However, the promoters allegedly defrauded investors and hid the illicit Bitcoin in obscure online wallets. ED claims that Kundra received 285 Bitcoin from Amit Bhardwaj, linked to the ponzi scheme, to establish a Bitcoin mining farm in Ukraine. These cryptocurrency assets are currently valued at Rs 150 crore and were obtained from proceeds of crime collected by Bhardwaj from unsuspecting investors.
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Since the deal didn’t proceed as planned, Kundra is reported to still possess the Bitcoin. Meanwhile, Simpy Bhardwaj was arrested on December 17, 2023, followed by Nitin Gaur on December 29, 2023, and Nikhil Mahajan on January 16, 2023. All are in judicial custody, while the main accused, Ajay Bhardwaj and Mahendra Bhardwaj, are still at large.
