Bitcoin ponzi scheme: ED names Raj Kundra in chargesheet, alleges sale of 5 flats by him to wife Shilpa Shetty without ‘change in ownership’ in a bid to shield them

The ED chargesheet also includes the statement of Shilpa, stating that she has provided financial assistance to her husband in saving their property from being attached.

ED provisionally attached Rs 97.78 crore, including five residential flats valued at Rs 82.71 crore owned by Kundra and Shilpa in Juhu and a residential bungalow premises situated in Pune near Pawna dam, valued at Rs 11.11 crore in 2024. The couple has, however, challenged ED’s action in the High Court.

ED filed a supplementary prosecution complaint (chargesheet) in the case on Thursday naming Kundra and Delhi-based businessman Rajesh Satija as accused in the case. The case relates to an FIR filed against Amit Bhardwaj, promoter and founder of gainbitcoin.com, alleging that he had promised high returns on investments in mining crypto currency, but had duped investors.

ED claims Kundra had received 285 bitcoins from Bhardwaj but had not divulged the wallet addresses to trace the bitcoins. Kundra told ED that the iPhone X which he was using at that time in 2018 was damaged. ED in its chargesheet said Kundra remained in continuous possession of the 285 bitcoins, claiming that they are proceeds of crime.

ED has claimed statements recorded of Bhardwaj showed that Kundra had approached him through social networking site, LinkedIn. Kundra and Bhardwaj, who authored a book on cryptocurrency, had discussions on bitcoins. Kundra in his statement said he is friends with one Shlomi Amouyal, nicknamed Tom, an Israeli citizen, who was interested in expanding his bitcoin mining in Ukraine. Kundra said it was Tom who had explained the technology to him.

Kundra said he had set up a conference call between Bhardwaj and Tom, where Bhardwaj expressed an interest in investing 5 million USD through bitcoins in Tom’s mining farms in Ukraine. It was agreed that Bhardwaj will first deposit 1 million USD through bitcoins and the remaining payment will be made by July 2017. Kundra was to get 20 per cent as sweat equity in the deal as a mediator, the chargesheet says referring to Kundra’s statement.

However, after Bhardwaj failed to pay the remaining 4 million, Tom called off the deal. The chargesheet says that Tom forfeited the 285 bitcoins paid earlier by Bhardwaj for investing. While Kundra claims these bitcoins were directly transferred in Tom’s digital wallet by Bhardwaj, ED says Kundra has not given any proof. Kundra told the ED that his phone got damaged in June 2018 and he had taken it to London during a visit and handed it to his niece to check if it can be repaired. ED claims till date he has not informed the agency about the status of the phone, and “deliberately caused destruction of evidence by declaring his phone as non-functional” soon after his statement was first recorded in 2018.

“On being asked to provide documentary evidence to prove his claim that 285 bitcoins were transferred by Amit Bhardwaj to Tom and not him, Kundra failed to provide any documentary evidence in this regard,” ED has claimed. ED says that Kundra was asked to show WhatsApp chats but has said he has deleted them. ED also alleged Kundra had provided them details of the five specific transactions in which the bitcoins were received, which it said was not possible if he was only a mediator and not the actual beneficial owner.

The court will hear arguments by the accused and the ED and then take a decision on taking cognizance of the chargesheet.

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