ED questions actress Gehna Vasisth for 7 hours in porn app case | Latest news India

Vasisth was earlier arrested by the Mumbai Police on February 6, 2021, based on cyber recordings and details revealed by a few other accused.

The police then suspected that she was associated with the filming of obscene videos posted online on illegal mobile applications and sites, including abroad.

The ED’s money laundering probe is based on a case registered by the Mumbai Police in February 2021, following a raid at a bungalow in Madh Island where a production company was allegedly filming intimate videos and distribute them through websites and mobile apps like Hotshots.

While five people were arrested at the scene, a young actress testified and helped uncover the alleged pornography racket.

The investigation subsequently revealed that the accused allegedly put pressure to convince actresses to shoot intimate scenes despite their reluctance.

The ED is likely to also summon businessman Raj Kundrahusband of Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty, to question him and record his statement this week. The agency summoned him twice last week, but he did not show up and asked for more time.

The decision to question Gehana, Kundra and others follows raids conducted recently by the ED at 15 locations linked to the accused in Maharashtra and UP, during which several bank accounts were frozen and collected cyberdigital devices.

The ED is examining the files and documents recovered during the searches and is focusing on tracking the flow of alleged proceeds of crime across the country as well as abroad to identify the ultimate beneficiaries in the case, they indicated sources.

“Shoot erotic films, not porn”

Gehna Vasisth told HT that the ED called her to find out how many films she had shot for the Hotshots app, her earnings, how many times she had met Kundra and whether Kundra owned the Hotshots app. “I cooperated with the agency,” she said.

“I didn’t do anything wrong. I have been involved in this matter and am not involved in any money laundering activities.

Vasisth added that the films she shot for the Hotshots app were of the erotic genre and not of the porn category.

The actress said she has directed and produced 11 short films and starred in one of them. “I did three more films as an actress,” she said. “I had ₹3 lakh per film for all 11 films. The reception of ₹33 lakh were registered and police froze the bank accounts.

Vasisth said she was paid by check from the British company Kenrin Pvt Ltd, and added that the managing director searched her residence recently on November 29 but found nothing incriminating.

The accused claimed that she had never dealt with Raj Kundra for any of the films she had done. “I didn’t get any money from him,” she said. “I only met him once in January 2021 during the launch of two of his other apps. I only interacted with Umesh Kamat, who organized the meeting.

Vasisth said Kamat would sometimes take her to a place that appeared to be Kundra’s office or connected to him, as she would see his photographs there.

“But that’s just my guess,” she added. Kamat was earlier arrested in this case by the Mumbai police.

On July 19, 2021, the crime branch arrested Kundra and the IT manager of one of his companies to trace the alleged links between Kundra and Armsprime Media Pvt Ltd, which controls the Hotshots app through Kenrin Pvt Ltd.

The police then alleged that Armsprime was originally owned by Kundra and was later sold to Kenrin Pvt Ltd, a company owned by his relative.

In September 2021, the crime branch filed a chargesheet against Kundra and other accused, alleging that Kundra had earned approximately ₹1.17 crore of Hotshots’ nearly 20 lakh subscribers between August and December 2020.

Previous cases against Kundra

Kundra has been in the crosshairs of the ED in the past also in two separate cases. In April, the ED had provisionally seized his property for the value ₹97.79 crore, including a Juhu apartment, in connection with a ₹6,600 Crore Bitcoin Based Ponzi Scheme.

According to ED sources, Kundra received 285 bitcoins, worth around ₹150 million, from the mastermind of the affair, Amit Bhardwaj.

In October 2019, the ED questioned Kundra to record his statement on its then investigation into the assets of late gangster Iqbal Mirchi.

Kundra was questioned in connection with an alleged transaction between one of his companies and a company associated with a real estate dealer arrested in the case. Kundra later tweeted that he had sold the land in question much earlier.