Porn app case: Raj Kundra skips ED summons, seeks more time

Raj Kundra, husband of actress Shilpa Shetty, has been summoned by the ED for questioning in a money laundering probe linked to pornographic content

MUMBAI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned businessman Raj Kundra, husband of Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty, on Wednesday, after he did not appear on Monday, as directed earlier by the agency, as part of its money laundering investigation linked to the alleged production and circulation of pornographic content through mobile apps.

Businessman Raj Kundra at his Mumbai house. (Raju Shinde/HT)

Kundra expressed his inability to appear on Monday and sought time, sources in the investigating agency said. The agency, meanwhile, has also summoned actress Gehana Vasisth for questioning on December 9 for her alleged involvement in the case.

The move to question Kundra and others follows raids conducted by the ED on Friday at 15 locations, linked with the accused, in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, in which several bank accounts were frozen and cyber-digital devices collected. The searches were conducted at Mumbai, Kanpur, Gorakhpur and Kushinagar, including at the premises of individuals who allegedly provided technical support to porn apps in lieu of payments.

The agency is scrutinising records and documents recovered during the searches and is focussing on tracing the flow of the alleged proceeds of crime in the case across the country as well as overseas, agency sources said. By tracing the flow, the agency seeks to trace and establish the end-beneficiaries in the case, the sources added.

On Friday, while the raid at Kundra’s residence was underway, advocate Prashant Patil, who represents Shilpa Shetty Kundra, had said, “As per my knowledge, there is no Enforcement Directorate raid on Shilpa Shetty Kundra as she has nothing to do with any offence of whatsoever nature. The case in question is an ongoing investigation regarding Raj Kundra and he is cooperating with the investigation for the truth to come out.”

The ED wants to record Kundra’s statement on his alleged role in the case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), said the sources. The probe is based on a case registered by Mumbai police in February 2021, following a raid at a bungalow at Madh where a production company was allegedly filming intimate audio-visual content and streaming the videos via mobile apps like Hotshots and some websites. A 25-year-old female actor gave a witness testimony and helped uncover the alleged pornography racket.

Kundra was earlier arrested on July 19, 2021, by crime branch’s property cell, which traced links between him and Armsprime Media, which controlled Hotshots app that was used to stream pornographic content. Crime branch later filed a charge-sheet against Kundra and other accused, alleging Kundra earned around ₹1.17 crore from the 20 lakh subscribers of Hotshots between August and December 2020.