DC exclusive: Meet Ripu Sudan alias Raj Kundra

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Mumbai: For starters, his name isn’t Raj Kundra. It’s Ripu Sudan Kundra. And he isn’t a successful businessman, as far as his string of failed companies show.
Ripu Kundra has been associated with five companies registered in the UK as Director. Of these, two — Vita Pictures and Velocity Entertainment, both of which were into film and video production — have been dissolved.
Kundra resigned from the directorship of two more companies, of which one was called Vita Corporation Ltd and also was in the business of film and video production. Kundra’s first wife Kavita was another of the directors of this company. It has been left with a net worth of zero.
The other company he resigned from was called R.K. Collections Ltd. It was into footwear and clothing. Kundra became director on 27th July 2001 and resigned on 11th October the same year. The company was left with a negative net worth of £577.
The only company that he’s been associated with which is still in business is UK Tradecorp. The company last filed returns in 2005, according to records available with the British government’s Company House department. The company went into liquidation on 23rd June 2005, and has been in liquidation since. Itcurrently shows a cash balance of £4,000.
The company has two directors, Ripu Sudan Kundra and Kavita Kundra. It was founded in 2002 but managed to operate without a single employee till 2004, when it got five employees. The company also has two shareholders who hold all the equity worth £449,000. The two shareholders are Ripu and Kavita Kundra.
Kundra’s father Bal Krishna Kundra has been part of four UK companies which were all dissolved. The companies were Planet Bollywood, Dhir Diamond, Velocity Entertainments and Worldwide UK Corp.
Raj Kundra, from bus conductor’s son to biz tycoon
One more company, Python Trading, is no longer trading. Kundra’s mother Usha Rani has also been part of failed companies. His string of failed ventures also run to other European countries.
Kundra has been active in creating companies in Denmark and France which went quietly under.
None of this, however, seems to have prevented Ripu Sudan Kundra from becoming Raj Kundra, one of the richest young British Asians, marrying a former filmstar, driving Lamborghinis, buying plush residences in some of the most expensive properties on earth, hobnobbing with cognoscenti all the way up to Prince Charles, trotting around the globe and living it up in very great style.