NEW DELHI: The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has arrested Sandeepa Virk in a money laundering and cheating racket case on the basis of search operations performed on August 12 and 13 in Delhi and Mumbai under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
The probe, launched on the basis of an FIR lodged at Police Station Phase-8, SAS Nagar, Punjab, under IPC Sections 406 and 420, charges Virk and her accomplices with cheating people by misrepresentation, raising money by giving false promises, and exercising undue influence.
As per the ED, Virk purchased immovable assets dishonestly while pretending to own hyboocare.com, a website selling allegedly FDA-approved beauty products. An investigation revealed that the products never existed, the site consistently had issues with a payment gateway, had little social media presence, and no clear organisational information — all signs of it being a front for money laundering.
The ED also found that Virk was in constant touch with Angarai Natarajan Sethuraman, former director of erstwhile Reliance Capital Limited, on illegal liaisoning activities. Raids at his home yielded proof of siphoning of funds for personal gain. In 2018, Reliance Commercial Finance Ltd (RCFL) is said to have given around Rs 18 crore to Sethuraman without proper checks, as well as a Rs 22 crore housing loan from Reliance Capital Ltd in contravention of prudential norms. Most of the loans are said to be unpaid and are suspected to have been diverted.
Several incriminating documents were found during the raids, and statements of influential people, including co-associate Farrukh Ali, were taken. Virk was apprehended on Tuesday under the provisions of PMLA and brought before the competent court.