Kundra is quizzed on Mirchi deal

Entrepreneur Raj Kundra, husband of Bollywood actor Shilpa Shetty, was grilled by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for over 10 hours on Wednesday in connection with an on-going money laundering probe launched by the agency against the late drug-lord Iqbal Mirchi.

Sources said that the agency is probing Kundra for a purported land deal in Santacruz that involved Ranjit Singh Bindra, a controversial Bandra-based property broker, who had been arrested earlier this month for his alleged links with Mirchi.

Clad in tees and jeans, Kundra, a regular in the city's Page 3 circuit, appeared before the agency's Ballard Pier office at around 10.30 am in response to the summons issued to him early last week. The marathon questioning session ended around 8.30 pm.

Though ED officials remained tight lipped about findings made from the questioning, Kundra spoke briefly after emerging out of the agency's office. He claimed that he did not have any relations with Mirchi at any point of time. "I have provided whatever information they (ED) wanted from me," he said.

Sources, meanwhile, said that Kundra, a British citizen who married Shetty in 2009, was quizzed about the investments made and interest-free loans issued by RKW Developers, a realty firm promoted by Dheeraj Dewan, to Essential Hospitality Limited-- where Shilpa Shetty was one of the directors, in 2016-17. Incidentally, Bindra is a director in RKW Developers as well as Bastian Hospitality, a firm floated by Kundra.

While Bindra is presently in judicial custody following his arrest for brokering three of Mirchi's properties in Worli, Dewan -- one of the promoters of DHFL-- is also under the ED lens in the present money laundering probe. The purported transactions between Essential Hospitality and RKW Developers had been unearthed by the ED during scrutiny of documents belonging to RKW, following Bindra's arrest, on October 11. Kundra reportedly claimed that he had sold the land, located near the airport, to RKW developers in 2011 following proper scrutiny and denied having received any loan or investment afterwards for his firm.

Sources, meanwhile, said that the agency is probing how the said land was procured by Kundra and the modes of payment adopted by the buyers (RKW) in the deal.

Bindra has been accused of earning Rs 30-40 crore as commission for striking a deal for three of Mirchi's properties at Worli, admeasuring 1537 sq metres, with a reality firm, in 2011.

As per the ED, Bindra and Humayun Merchant, a key aide of the late drug lord, had facilitated meetings between the buyers of the property and Mirchi in the past, the agency claims.