Ed lays the load of raj kundra in bitcoin 'scam' case; claimed to have 285 signs worth £ 150

The Maintenance Directorate (ED) has filed a charge sheet against actress Shilpa Shetty’s husband Raj Kundra for alleged involvement in a bitcoin scam, according to a PTI report. The investigative agency claimed that Kundra was a prosperous owner in the operations, and not just a mediator for transactions, as claimed by him, he added. What did ED say about Raj Kundra’s role in Bitcoin scam? In the charge sheet recently filed before a Special Money Laundry Act (PMLA) Court, Kundra is owned by 285 Bitcoins, which is currently valued at £ 150.47, which was received from late Crypto-Scam Masterbrain Amit Bhardwaj. The ED claims that Kundraat deliberately hidden important evidence, including the Bitcoin wallet addresses, and did not surrender the Bitcoins received from Bhardwaj. The investigative agency argued that Kundra was still in possession and the said returns of crime (bitcoins). Furthermore, the Ed said he did a ‘sincere deal’ with his actor woman Shilpa Shetty at ‘far below the market rate’ to hide the origin of such funds obtained by Commission of Criminal Activity. So he tried to frustrate the process under PMLA by laying the returns of crime and predicting the same as inexplicable, the ED claimed in the charge sheet. What is the Bitcoin scam? The money laundering case stems from firs filed by Maharashtra and Delhi police against a company called Variable Tech Private Limited, the late Amit Bhardwaj, Ajay Bhardwaj, Vivek Bhardwaj, Simpy Bhardwaj and Mahender Bhardwaj. According to the ED, Bitcoins were supposed to be used for mining, and investors were supposed to get big returns in Crypto assets, but the promoters ‘cheated’ them and hid the ‘bad’ bitcoins in obscure online wallets. Kundra, claimed the agency, received 285 Bitcoins from the “Mastermind” and promoter of Gain Bitcoin Ponzi “Scam” amit Bhardwaj for the erection of a Bitcoin mining farm in Ukraine. As the agreement did not materialize, Kundra is still in possession of 285 Bitcoins currently valued at more than £ 150, the ED claimed. What does the Ed Chargeteet say? The charge sheet said that Kundra claimed that he acted as a mediator in the said transaction, but that he did not “provide any underlying documentary evidence to prove the same.” On the contrary, the agreement with the title “Tering page” was signed between him and Mahendra Bhardwaj, it states. “So it can be safely concluded that the agreement is actually between Raj Kundra and Amit Bhardwaj (his father Mahender Bhardwaj) and the argument given by Kundra was that he acted as mere mediator,” the Chargete said. The fact that Kundra remembered the exact number of Bitcoins received more than seven years in five specific parts since the transactions took place “reinforced the fact that he was indeed the recipient of Bitcoins as a beneficial owner and not merely acted as a mediator,” the Charseheet said. Despite several occasions since 2018, Kundraar has not managed to provide the wallet addresses where the 285 bitcoins were transferred, the complaint states. He cites his iPhone X shortly after his initial statement as the reason for the missing information, which the ED considered to be a deliberate attempt to destroy evidence and hide the proceeds of crime. Besides Kundra, the other person mentioned in the Chargelheet is the businessman Rajesh Satija. (With input from PTI)