ED summons Shilpa Shetty's husband Raj Kundra in money-laundering case
Enforcement Directorate has issued summons to businessman Raj Kundra, and husband of actress Shilpa Shetty, in connection to a money laundering case. Kundra has been asked to appear before the agency on Monday, and his statement is expected to be recorded. He is being probed for alleged connection with a case involving gangster Iqbal Mirchi, an aide of Dawood Ibrahim. He died in 2013.
Let's understand how Kundra is linked with Mirchi
The domino effect started when ED arrested a businessman named Ranjeet Bindra, for his alleged links with Mirchi. When going through details of real-estate RKW Developers Private Limited, which Bindra owns, ED learned it was involved in transactions with Essential Hospitality Limited, where Shilpa is one of the directors. The federal agency is probing this connection of Bindra with Bollywood's power couple.
Bindra has been associated with couple of Kundra's projects
It is alleged that Bindra worked closely with Mirchi and negotiated property deals along with the gangster's aide Humayun Merchant. As per reports, Essential Hospitality got an investment of Rs. 44.11 crore from RKW Developers. The real-estate firm also provided an interest-free loan of Rs. 31.54 crore to the company. In fact, Bindra was also the director of Kundra's Bastian Hospitality Private Limited.
On ED's radar, Kundra said everything is documented for
Dismissing ED's case, Kundra in a statement released earlier said, "In 2011, I sold a plot that I owned near the airport including the company to RKW developers. Everything is documented & verified by my CA. This is the be-all and end-all of the deal." Claiming the loans being talked about were taken by new owners, he added, "We sold a zero debt company!"
Meanwhile, Bindra was asked to step down as director
Further, distancing himself from Bindra, Kundra said the former has been asked to step down from the position of director at Bastian Hospitality, till courts clear him of all charges. "The shareholders and management unanimously decided that this would be the best move, in light of current events," he said, adding that the company respects the judicial process and values its customers.
