Mumbai Police to issue LOC against Shilpa Shetty-Raj Kundra in Rs 60 crore fraud case

New Delhi: In a latest development, Mumbai Police’s Economic Offences Wing will issue a lookout circular against actress Shilpa Shetty and Raj Kundra in a Rs 60 crore fraud case.  Earlier, the celebrity couple was booked by the EOW of the Mumbai Police for allegedly cheating a 60-year-old businessman of RsThe complaint was registered based on a complaint by Deepak Kothari, the director of Lotis Capital Financial Services.  60.48 crore in a loan-cum-investment deal of their company, Best Deal TV Private Limited.

According to sources, police are checking their travel logs and will issue the LOC to prevent them from leaving the country. Mumbai Police Commissioner, Devean Bharti told ABP News that no LOC has been issued yet against Shilpa Shetty and Raj Kundra, but the process is underway. The LOC is being considered so that the couple cannot leave India and disrupt the investment.

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A police officer said they are trying to trace how the money was used during the period in question and where it was diverted, which will help determine whether the funds were utilized legitimately or for personal gain. As per sources, when the case went to the National Company Law Tribunal, the auditor who reviewed the company’s finances during insolvency proceeding was also summoned for questioning. However, due to Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations and protests in the city, questioning has been delayed.

Businessman Deepak Kothari has alleged that Shilpa Shetty and Raj Kundra duped him of Rs 60 crore. He further claimed that the money was given between 2015 and 2023 for business expansion, but instead it was spent on their personal expenses. In 2015, agent Rajesh Arya met Kothari and introduced him to Best Deal TV Private Limited, a company linked to the celebrity couple.  Arya asked for a loan of Rs 75 crore at 12 per cent annual interest, and Shilpa reportedly held over 87 per cent shares in the company.

Initially, it was supposed to be a loan, but citing tax benefits, Kothari was persuaded to treat it as an “investment”. In April 2025, he transferred the first instalment of Rs 31.95 crore. Despite tax issues not being resolved, another agreement was signed in September 2015, and between July 2015 and March 2016, he transferred another Rs 28.54 crore.  In total, he paid Rs 60.48 crore plus an additional Rs 3.19 crore as stamp duty. In  April 2016, Shilpa even gave him a personal guarantee. However, by September 2016, Shilpa resigned as the company’s director and it was discovered that the company has been dragged into insolvency proceedings over Rs 1.28 crore.

When he demanded his money back, he alleged that Shilpa and Raj kept delaying repayments. The Mumbai Police’s EOW then registered an FIR under PC Sections 403 (dishonest misappropriation), 406 (criminal breach of trust), and 34 (common intention).

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However, Shilpa Shetty and Raj Kundra’s advocate Prashant Patil called the allegations ‘baseless’. He said in a statement, “This is an old transaction , wherein the company went in to financial distress and eventually got entangled in a long legal battle at the NCLT. There is no criminality involved and our auditors have submitted all the necessary supporting documents from time to time, as requested by the EOW, including detailed cash flow statements. The investment agreement in question is purely in the nature of an equity investment.”

“The company has already received a liquidation order, which has also been placed before the police department. The concerned Charter accounts have visited the police station for last one year for more than 15 times with all the evidence supporting the claims of my clients. This is nothing but a baseless and malicious case aimed at maligning our clients, and appropriate action is being initiated from our side against the perpetrators,” he added.