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ED questions actress Gehna Vasisth for 7 hours in porn app case

Dec 10, 2024 09:38 AM IST

ED’s probe revealed she pressured reluctant actors to shoot intimate scenes; Vasisth says “movies of erotic genre”, not porn

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday questioned actor Gehana Vasisth for around seven hours for her suspected role in the alleged production and circulation of pornographic content through mobile apps. The actor has been asked to appear on Tuesday for further questioning.

Actress Gehna Vashisth comes out after appearing before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) office after getting a summon in connection with Raj Kundra Money Laundering and Pornography Case.(PTI)
Actress Gehna Vashisth comes out after appearing before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) office after getting a summon in connection with Raj Kundra Money Laundering and Pornography Case.(PTI)

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

The police had then suspected that she was associated with the shooting of obscene videos that were uploaded on illegal mobile apps and sites, including those located abroad.

READ | Shilpa Shetty says nothing in life is permanent in first Instagram post since ED raids. Watch

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 streaming them via websites and mobile apps like Hotshots.

While five persons were arrested from the spot, a young female actor gave a witness testimony and helped uncover the alleged pornography racket.

The probe later revealed that the accused had allegedly used pressure to convince female actors to shoot intimate scenes despite their reluctance.

The ED is likely to also summon businessman Raj Kundra, husband of Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty, to question him and record his statement this week. The agency had summoned him twice last week, but he failed to appear and sought more time.

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

The ED is scrutinising records and documents recovered during the searches and focusing on tracing the flow of the alleged proceeds of crime across the country as well as overseas to establish the end beneficiaries in the case, said sources.

‘Shot erotic movies, not porn’

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

“I have done nothing wrong. I have been dragged into this case and I am not involved in any money-laundering activity.”

Vasisth added that the movies she shot for the Hotshots app were in the erotic genre, not the porn category.

The actor said she directed and produced 11 short films and acted in one of them. “I did three other films as an actor,” she said. “I got 3 lakh per movie for the 11 films. The receipt of 33 lakh was on record and the police froze the bank accounts.”

Vasisth said she was paid by cheque by the UK-based firm, Kenrin Pvt Ltd, and added that the ED searched her residence recently on November 29 but did not find anything incriminating.

The accused claimed she had never dealt with Raj Kundra for any of the films she shot. “I did not get money from him,” she said. “I met him only once in January 2021 when two of his other apps were being launched. I only interacted with Umesh Kamat, who arranged the meeting.”

Vasisth said that Kamat took her at times to a place that appeared to be Kundra’s office or connected to him, as she saw his photographs there.

“But this is just my assumption,” she added. Kamat was earlier arrested in the case by the Mumbai police.

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

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

In September 2021, the crime branch filed a charge sheet against Kundra and other accused, alleging that Kundra had earned around 1.17 crore from the nearly 20 lakh subscribers of Hotshots between August and December 2020.

Earlier cases against Kundra

Kundra has been in the ED’s crosshairs in the past as well in two separate cases. In April, the ED had provisionally attached his assets worth 97.79 crore, including a Juhu flat, in connection with a 6,600-crore bitcoin-based Ponzi scheme.

According to ED sources, Kundra allegedly received 285 bitcoins, valued at around 150 crore, from the case’s mastermind, 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 firms and a firm associated with a property dealer arrested in the case. Kundra later tweeted that he had sold the plot in question much earlier.

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