Lookout circular issued against actor Shilpa Shetty, husband Raj Kundra in Rs 60 crore cheating case

Mumbai | The Mumbai police have issued a Lookout Circular (LOC) against Bollywood actor Shilpa Shetty and her businessman husband Raj Kundra in connection with a Rs 60 crore cheating case, officials said on Friday.

The LOC was issued by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the city police as the couple makes frequent international trips, an official said.

The case was registered against the actor and her husband at Juhu police station on August 14 for allegedly duping a businessman of nearly Rs 60 crore in a loan-cum-investment deal, he said.

A Lookout Circular is a mechanism used to prevent a person from leaving the country or to track their movements, typically by issuing an alert to immigration and border control points.

The case was later transferred to the EOW for investigation.

Sixty-year-old businessman Deepak Kothari, a resident of Juhu, had lodged a complaint in this connection, the official said.

Kothari is a director of a non-banking financial company (NBFC) named Lotus Capital Finance Services.

According to the complainant, he came in contact with Kundra and his actor wife through one Rajesh Arya.

Kundra and Shetty were directors of Best Deal TV Private Limited, a home shopping and online retail platform. Through Arya, they sought a loan of Rs 75 crore, but to avoid higher taxation, they showed it as an investment.

They also promised monthly returns and repayment of the principal amount, the official said.

As per the FIR, the complainant claimed that he transferred Rs 31.9 crore in April 2015 under a share subscription agreement, followed by another Rs 28.53 crore under a supplementary agreement in September 2015.

Despite providing a personal guarantee in April 2016, Shetty resigned as a director of the company in September that year.

Kothari later found that insolvency proceedings were on against the company in 2017 for defaulting on another agreement, the official said.

In his complaint, Kothari alleged that he provided a loan for business, but the money was allegedly diverted for personal use by the accused persons, according to him.

Accordingly, Kothari approached the Mumbai police with a complaint against the actor, her husband and other unknown persons, based on which a case was registered, he said.

A statement was then issued by Shetty and Kundra's lawyer in connection with the case, which states that his clients deny all the allegations that are purely civil in nature and have been adjudicated by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) Mumbai on October 4, 2024.

"This is an old transaction, wherein the company went into financial distress and eventually got entangled in a long legal battle at the NCLT," the statement said.

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, it had added.