ED seizes Raj Kundra’s properties worth Rs 97.79 crore in ponzi scam

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached immovable and movable properties worth Rs 97.79 crore belonging to businessman Raj Kundra in a bitcoin ponzi scam under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. The attached properties also include a flat in Juhu in the name of Kundra's wife and actor Shilpa Shetty.The attached properties include a bungalow in Pune and equity shares in the name of Raj Kundra.Both Raj Kundra and Shilpa Shetty have denied any involvement in the case.
The ED initiated an investigation based on multiple FIRs registered by Maharashtra Police and Delhi Police against one Variable Tech Private Limited, and accused - late Amit Bhardwaj, Ajay Bhardwaj, Vivek Bhardwaj, Simpy Bhardwaj, Mahender Bhardwaj and others.It has been alleged that the accused had collected huge amounts of funds in the form of bitcoins,worth Rs 6,600 crore in 2017 itself,from the people with the false promises of a 10 per cent per month return in the form of bitcoins.
The collected bitcoins were supposed to be utilised for bitcoin mining and investors were supposed to get huge returns in crypto assets. But the promoters cheated the investors and have been concealing the ill-gotten Bitcoins in obscure online wallets. Raj Kundra received 285 bitcoins from Amit Bhardwaj, the mastermind and promoter of the GainBitcoin ponzi scam, for setting up a bitcoin mining farm in Ukraine. The said bitcoins were sourced out of proceeds of crime collected by Amit Bhardwaj from gullible investors.Since the deal did not materialise, Raj Kundra is still in possession of 285 bitcoins, which are presently valued at more than Rs 150 crore.The main accused, Ajay Bhardwaj and Mahendra Bhardwaj, are still absconding.
Raj Kundra has been arrested in 2021 in a case involving production and distribution of pornographic films using a subscriber-driven mobile app called 'Hotshots'. He got bail in that case by the Supreme Court.