Raj Kundra skips ED hearing, summoned again

Businessman Raj Kundra skipped a hearing of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday and has now been summoned afresh on Wednesday.
Kundra - husband of Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty - was summoned in connection with the first ED case of alleged

money laundering

linked with a pornography scam that was exposed in February 2021 by Mumbai Police. However, he did not remain present today, seeking more time and accordingly, has been issued a fresh summons seeking his presence in the probe on December 4.
Kundra, and actress Gehana Vashisht - who has been called on December 9 - was expected to go to the ED office and provide the financial details of the porn racket and his exact role in it.

Kundra said last week that he was "fully complying" with the ongoing investigation that has been unfolding for the last four years.
Shetty's lawyer has told PTI that the action was not against the actor and that Kundra was "cooperating in the investigation for the truth to come out".
The ED summons came days after it raided at least eight premises linked to Kundra and others last weekend.
This is the second money laundering case against Kundra. Early this year, the ED had attached assets worth Rs 98 crore of Kundra and Shetty in a cryptocurrency case.

The couple, however, obtained relief from the Bombay High Court against this attachment order.
The businessman told a local court in 2021 that there was not even an iota of evidence with the prosecution (Mumbai Police) that would connect the app 'Hotshots', used in the alleged porn films racket, with an offence under the law.
According to the probe agency, the 'Hotshots' app was being used by the accused for uploading and streaming obscene content.
Kundra had claimed there was no evidence of him being "actively" involved in the creation of alleged porn content.

He had claimed he was falsely implicated and was not even named in the FIR and was dragged by the respondent (police) in the case.
The businessman claimed in the plea that he is being made a "scapegoat" for reasons best known to investigators.
The police had filed FIRs on the basis of complaints received from two women, while another woman had submitted a complaint at the Lonavla police station, around 120 km from Mumbai.
After the alleged porn content controversy, the ED entered the picture in May 2022 for the money laundering aspects which are being investigated separately.
The police contended that Kundra and others were allegedly running a porn racket, uploading it on certain Apps for dissemination.
He was arrested in July 2021 and spent a few months in jail before being discharged on bail in September 2021.