Court issues notice to ED on Sandeepa Virk's bail plea

New Delhi [India], October 23 (ANI): The Tis Hazari court has issued notice to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the bail plea of Sandeepa Virk. She was arrested on August 12. The ED has filed a Prosecution Complaint (Charge sheet) against Sandeepa Virk and Amit Gupta.
Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Vijay Shankar issued notice to the ED and sought a response on the bail plea.
"Directorate of Enforcement is directed to file reply to the aforesaid bail application of the accused, including the report regarding previous involvement of the accused and the list/ status of all pending cases against the accused on the next date of hearing," ASJ Vijay Shankar ordered on October 15.
The special public prosecutor (SPP) for the ED sought time to file a reply.
The court has listed the bail application for consideration on October 28.
ED has filed the prosecution complaint against Amit Gupta and Sandeepa Virk for the offence under Section 3 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), punishable under Section 4 of PMLA.
It is the case of the ED that a case was registered at the Police Station, Phase 8, SAS Nagar, Mohali, under Sections 406 and 420 of the IPC in 2016. Following the completion of the investigation, a charge sheet was filed against the accused, Amit Gupta.
ED stated that the Offence under section 420 (Cheating) IPC is covered under schedule offences under PMLA, and on 11/08/2025, a case under section 3, 4 PMLA was registered, and the matter was investigated by the ED. After the investigation was completed, the present prosecution complaint was filed.
It is the case of the Directorate of Enforcement that both proposed accused have committed the offence of money laundering under PMLA.
According to the ED, the investigation revealed that Sandeepa Virk acquired immovable property in her name by making false promises and cheating. She claims to be the owner of hyboocare.com, a website purportedly selling FDA-approved beauty products.
However, the products listed on the site have been found to be non-existent, according to the ED's alleged claims.
Directorate of Enforcement (ED), had conducted search operations on 12 and 13 August 2025 at multiple locations in Delhi and Mumbai under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
These operations were part of an ongoing investigation into Sandeepa Virk and her associates, who are alleged to have exerted undue influence through misrepresentation and defrauded individuals by soliciting money under false pretences.
The ED had earlier stated that the website lacks a user registration option and is plagued by persistent payment gateway issues. Scrutiny of the website revealed minimal social media engagement, an inactive WhatsApp contact number, and a lack of transparent organisational details, all of which support the finding of non-genuine commercial activity.
These factors include a limited product range. Inflated pricing, false claims of FDA approval, and technical inconsistencies indicate that the website serves as a front for laundering funds, ED claims. (ANI)