The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday raided the premises of businessman Raj Kundra, the husband of actor Shilpa Shetty, as part of an ongoing money laundering investigation linked to the alleged distribution of pornographic and adult movies, PTI reports, citing official sources.
The raids targeted around 15 locations in Mumbai and other cities in Uttar Pradesh, including the home and office of 49-year-old Kundra and other people involved in the case.
Sources confirmed that Kundra is being questioned at one of these locations.
The money laundering investigation stems from a case filed in May 2022, based on at least two FIRs and chargesheets filed by the Mumbai police against Kundra and others. The businessman and several others were arrested and later granted bail in connection with the case.
This is the second money laundering case involving Kundra. Earlier this year, the ED had attached assets worth Rs 98 crore of Kundra and Shetty in a cryptocurrency-related case, although the couple received relief from the Bombay High Court against the attachment order.
Kundra has previously denied any involvement in the creation of the alleged pornographic content, claiming there was no evidence linking him to the offences. He had argued in 2021 that there was no proof connecting the ‘Hotshots’ app, allegedly used to distribute the content, to illegal activities. Kundra contended that he was falsely implicated and that he had not even been named in the FIR.
The case centres around the use of the ‘Hotshots’ app to upload and stream explicit content. Police had alleged that small-time actors were lured with offers of roles in web series and short stories, only to be coerced into performing semi-nude or nude scenes against their will.
Investigators uncovered that Kundra had set up Armsprime Media Pvt Ltd, which, through London-based Kenrin Pvt Ltd, operated the Hotshots app. WhatsApp chats found on Kundra’s phone reportedly detailed transactions related to the app, including discussions of selling 119 adult films for USD 1.2 million.