Raj Kundra, Shilpa Shetty’s husband is no stranger to controversy. The businessman was ranked as the 198th richest British Asian by Success, and even though he has created quite a name for himself in corporate India, he has always been marred by scandals. This article helps you to know about Raj Kundras Biggest Controversies.

Once again Raj Kundra has made it to the headlines for the wrong reasons, following his arrest by Mumbai Police on 19th July (Monday). Of course, this is not the first time that Raj Kundra and Shilpa Shetty have found themselves in the middle of libel.

From betting illegally on bitcoins to cheating a textile company, rumoured connections in the underworld, IPL betting, etc., the list of Raj Kundra misdemeanours is long. The Commissioner of Police made a public statement that they had enough evidence to arrest him. On that note, let us look at the list of contentions surrounding the big-shot businessman. 

Raj Kundra's Biggest Controversies

Here is a list of Raj Kundra's biggest Controversies:

1. Hideous spat with ex-wife

Many may not know that before his marriage to actress Shilpa Shetty, Raj Kundra was married to Kavita Kundra. Kavita, the daughter of a successful Mumbai businessman tied the knot with Raj Kundra in 2003. They gave birth to their daughter, Delena Kundra in 2006. However, the marriage ended after that. The couple filed for divorce soon after. 

In a recent interview with an entertainment portal, Raj Kundra alleged that his ex-wife Kavita was having an extra-marital affair with his former brother-in-law. His statement was in response to Kavita accusing Shilpa Shetty to be the cause behind their separation. In an explicit interview, Kavita blamed Shilpa Shetty for wrecking her marriage and her daughter’s life. 

Whereas, Raj Kundra revealed that Kavita always brought out the worst in him. And, apparently, she was paid by a Mumbai-based gossip newspaper to sell a scandalous story that would tarnish Raj and Shilpa’s reputation. 

2. The IPL scandal

Raj Kundra is also the former co-owner of the IPL franchise, Rajasthan Royals (RR). In 2013, Delhi police had arrested Raj Kundra accusing him of charges of betting. Back then, the police arrested Kundra because he was found to be indulging in betting through this team co-owner Umesh Goenka. Goenka acted as a bookie and forwarded bets to others on behalf of Raj Kundra. 

Eventually, Raj Kundra accepted his charges and admitted to illegally betting in the IPL. As a punishment, the Supreme Court imposed a lifetime ban on Kundra from all cricket-related activities. Further, his team, the Rajasthan Royals were banned from the IPL for two years. 

3. Spot-fixing controversy

Raj Kundra’s name had also cropped up in an IPL match-fixing scandal along with other Indian celebrities like Vindu Dara Singh, cricketer Sreesanth, Ajit Chandela, Ankit Chavan, Arbaaz Khan, Gurunath Meiyappan, and many others. 

Sreesanth, Ajit Chandela, Ankit Chavan were later arrested for match-fixing, Raj Kundra was acquitted after he confessed that even though he was involved in betting, he had nothing to do with the spot-fixing controversy.

4. Involvement with underworld Don Dawood Ibrahim

Raj Kundra is not the only Bollywood celebrity rumoured to have connections with underworld Don Dawood Ibrahim. In 2019, Raj Kundra was called in for questioning by the ED on his collaboration in a business case dealing with Ranjeet Bindra. Ranjeet Bindra is a close henchman of Dawood Ibrahim’s auxiliary, Iqbal Mirchi.

The ED had come across documents associated with business dealings between the real estate firm RKW Developers, where Ranjeet Bindra was one of the directors and Essential Hospitality Limited, where Shilpa Shetty was on the board. RKW Developers had invested 44.11 crores in Essential Hospitality and also provided them with an interest-free loan of 31.54 crores. At the same time, Raj Kundra had tweeted about business dealings with Ranjeet Bindra’s real-estate firm. 

5. Raj Kundra and Sachiin Joshi controversy

2018 was a turbulent year for the Kundra-Shetty family as both Raj Kundra and actor Sachiin Joshi had accused each other of fraud. Raj Kundra, founder of the Indian Poker League in 2017 had accused Sachiin Joshi of non-payment of dues. It was alleged that Sachiin had bought a team in the Indian Poker League, but his check worth 40 lakhs had bounced. As a retaliation, Sachiin accused Raj of rigging the tournament. 

6. Gold Card Scheme Fraud

Sachin Joshi had launched a complaint in March 2020 of fraudulence and cheating against Shilpa Shetty and Raj Kundra. Joshi claimed that he was cheated by them when they were the directors of a gold-trading company Satyug Gold Pvt. Ltd. Sachin Joshi was duped by the “Satyug Gold Scheme” that was launched in 2014.  

Joshi publicly issued a statement that he had purchased one kg of Gold for about 19 lakhs which would be redeemable after March 2019, according to the Satyug Five-Year Gold Scheme. But, when Joshi went to redeem his asset, he found that the firm was shut and no representatives were to be found. It was clear that Shilpa Shetty and Raj Kundra’s Satyug Gold Scheme was a fraud. 

7. The porn debacle

The recent Raj Kundra controversy is a porn film debacle. As per the reports, the scam was busted earlier this year in February, when a woman reached out to the Mumbai Police claiming that Raj Kundra used to lure young men and women on the promise of launching them in web series and movies, but instead made them shoot porn-films. 

Bollywood actresses Poonam Pandey and Sherlyn Chopra have alleged that Raj Kundra was significant in launching them into the porn film industry. During the ongoing investigation, it has been revealed that Sherlyn has been involved in over 15 projects associated with Raj Kundra, and she was paid 30 lakhs for each project. 

Following the porn controversy, Raj Kundra has been arrested by the Mumbai Police on Monday following the creation and release of pornographic material over mobile apps. He is in Police Custody and will remain so until July 23. Besides, Raj Kundra will also have to appear for trial owing to his past misconduct. 

Also read: 5 Greatest Financial Scams In India