Didn’t know anything about my husband’s businesses: Shilpa Shetty

The property cell of Mumbai Police’s crime branch on Friday evening recorded the statement of actor Shilpa Shetty for around two hours at her Juhu residence

The property cell of Mumbai Police’s crime branch on Friday evening recorded the statement of actor Shilpa Shetty for around two hours at her Juhu residence. Police said the actor told them that she did not know anything about her husband Raj Kundra’s businesses, as she was most often busy with her own work. The police said the actor broke down while recording the statement.

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Shetty told property cell officers that she never interfered with Kundra’s businesses and added that it was only through news reports that she came to know about the allegations levelled against him. Police officers are, however, sceptical about her claims as the actor was once on the board of directors of one of the companies, Viaan Industries, owned by her husband.

A police officer said they may record her statement again, if required. But prima facie, they have not found any involvement of the actor.

Police said Shetty appeared upset and had an argument with Kundra when he was taken to Juhu for house-search on Friday evening. “She was upset after the argument and looked sad and even cried later when crime branch officers recorded her statement,” said an officer.

Meanwhile, crime branch officers on Saturday found a hidden almirah at Kundra’s Juhu house.

The police said the almirah was kept in a cavity covered by a wall and added that they have found several files in it and have started analsying them.

“We are checking what files they are,” said a police officer.

He added they are now in the process of appointing expert forensics and financial auditing firm to analyse and audit Kundra’s accounts.

Police officers said Kundra has deleted a lot of material such as videos and other accounting details from his computers, after the case was registered in February 2021 and nine arrests were made.

They are also investigating if the money received by Kundra through some foreign banks such as United Bank of Africa is money earned from betting or through his earnings or were earnings from Hotshots subscriptions.

Property cell arrested Kundra in connection with a purported pornography racket busted by the police in February 2021. Ten others, including Kundra’s close associate Umesh Kamat and his IT support provider Ryan Thorpe, have been arrested in the case.

Meanwhile, Enforcement Directorate (ED) sources said the anti-money laundering agency is likely to probe into the alleged money laundering aspects of the porn racket case in which Kundra is named as a prime accused. The agency would also check if Kundra or his associates were involved in any alleged violation of Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA). But, the agency has not yet registered any case so far.