Raj Kundra granted bail by special court in Rs 150 crore Bitcoin ‘Ponzi’ scheme case

The court considered these grounds and granted Kundra bail. Details of the conditions for his bail are yet to be made available.

He was granted bail under Section 91 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and Section 88 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Under the provision, the court has the power to take a bond for appearance to ensure the accused remains present in court during the subsequent proceedings.

Last month, the court issued a notice to Raj Kundra for the offence under Section 3, punishable under Section 4, of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, noting that there is a prima facie case against him.

ED allegations against Raj Kundra

ED has alleged that Kundra received proceeds of crime in the form of bitcoins and continued possess them. The agency suspects that Kundra received 285 bitcoins, valued at more than Rs 150 crore.

“He has not only acquired/received the proceeds of crime from the criminal activities, but in order to layer the transactions so as to give colour of genuine transaction, he has done sale transaction with his wife at a rate which is far below market rate to disguise the origin of such funds obtained by commission of criminal activities for the purpose of concealing or disguising the illegal origin of the said funds and to layer it with intent to evade the legal consequences of his actions,” ED has said in the chargesheet.

ED also claimed that Kundra and his actor wife, Shilpa Shetty, entered into a ‘sale transaction’ of 5 flats in Juhu without ‘any change in ownership’ at a rate ‘far below market rate’, knowing that the property was liable for attachment.

ED claimed that of the Rs 38 crore paid by Shetty to Kundra in lieu of purchasing the flats in a building in Juhu, Rs 24.9 crore was transferred into a joint account in the couple’s name. Kundra has previously denied these allegations.