It has been alleged that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) while going through the details of the real estate firm RKW Developers Private Limited, has unearthed transactions with Essential Hospitality Limited where actress Shilpa Shetty is one of the directors.
New Delhi, October 28:
Raj Kundra, the husband of Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty, has denied the allegations levelled against him and his wife of knowingly having business dealings with Iqbal Mirchi, an alleged associate of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim.
It has been alleged that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) while going through the details of the real estate firm RKW Developers Private Limited, has unearthed transactions with Essential Hospitality Limited where actress Shilpa Shetty is one of the directors.
However, Raj Kundra in a statement said, “In 2011, I sold a plot that I owned near the airport including the company to RKW developers. Everything is documented & verified by my CA. This is the be-all and end-all of the deal. Any loans given to the company in question was after we sold the company to the new owner. We sold a zero debt company! We have never taken a single loan it was taken by the new owners of the company!”
The director of RKW Developers Private Limited is Ranjeet Bindra who has been arrested by the ED. Dheeraj Wadhwan is also associated with RKW Developers and according to sources, the link with the company associated to Shilpa Shetty will be probed by the federal agency.
Ranjeet Bindra was allegedly working on behest of Iqbal Mirchi and played an important role in negotiating property deals for him along with Mirchi’s associate Humayun Merchant.
An official comment from the Enforcement Directorate is awaited and no summons has been issued to Raj Kundra or Shilpa Shetty for questioning.
Sources say that RKW invested Rs 44.11 crore in Essential Hospitality and provided an interest-free loan of Rs 31.54 crore. Over 30.45 crore of loan was granted to Essential Hospitality between April 2017-March 2018 and Rs 117.17 crore between April 2016-March 2017.
Another link which is under the scanner is in connection with Essential Hospitality, where one of the directors Placid Jacob Naronha is also a director with RKW Developers. Interestingly, Noronha has served as director of few other companies owned by the Wadhwans including a company named Bawa Realtors where he is a director along with Shilpa Shetty’s husband Raj Kundra.
Raj Kundra’s company Bastian Hospitality Private Limited had Ranjeet Bindra as the director who was the first person to be arrested by ED in connection with the Iqbal Mirchi’s property case.
Courtesy: India Today
