The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has been interrogating actor-producer Gehana Vashishta for the past seven hours in connection with the money laundering case linked to the pornography case. The agency called Vashishth last week. She participated in the investigation on Monday. Industrialist Raj Kundra had also been summoned by the agency in the past in this case but he had dropped the summons.
Vashishtha, who reached the ED’s Ballard Estate office at 11 am, is still being interrogated.
Talking to mediapersons outside the ED office, she said, “I have nothing to hide, that’s why I am here. I will try to help the agency’s investigation. My place was raided by the agency a few days ago and they were there for 24 hours. My bank account, Mutual Funds are all frozen.
She added, ‘I have worked with Raj Kundra. When a movie is produced, the income/profit is given to the actors, technicians and staff etc., I have paid all these people from the money I got. As much (money) as was left, I kept it as my wages.
Last week, the ED raided 15 properties of Raj Kundra and his associates in Mumbai and Uttar Pradesh.
Kundra’s house in Juhu and Vashishtha’s premises were among the places raided. The agency had also frozen several bank accounts and demat accounts of Kundra and Vashisht, sources said.
The ED registered a money laundering case against Kundra in connection with the pornography case in May 2022, based on an FIR registered against him by the Mumbai Police in 2021 for running a porn racket. Kundra was arrested in connection with the case, in connection with which the ED is probing his financial transactions. Vashishtha was granted immunity from arrest by the Supreme Court in September 2021 in the case.
The alleged pornography racket dates back to February 2021, when the Mumbai Police made the first arrest in the case. The Mumbai Police’s crime branch raided a bungalow in Central Island where obscene films were being shot.
Eventually, Kundra was arrested after investigations revealed that he was the alleged main conspirator in the case.
Kundra has already dodged two summonses from the agency. Sources said that Kundra has sought time from the agency and is likely to participate in the investigation this week.