Delhi High Court releases influencer Sandeepa Virk on bail in laundering case

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has granted regular bail to social media influencer Sandeepa Virk in a money laundering case linked to allegations of online fraud and inducement involving nearly Rs 6 crore, according to Bar and Bench.

Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma passed the order, observing that the proceedings under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) were initiated almost a decade after the alleged transactions. The Court held that Virk’s continued incarceration would be unjustified in light of the delay and the surrounding facts of the case.

“In view of the foregoing discussion, this Court is inclined to grant regular bail to the applicant on her furnishing a personal bond in the sum of Rs 2,00,000 with two sureties of the like amount,” the Court ordered.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) alleged that Virk was involved in duping a woman of approximately Rs 6 crore by falsely promising her a lead role in a film. It was further alleged that Virk sold fake beauty products through a website, hyboocare.com, which claimed to offer FDA-approved products, and laundered the proceeds through this platform.

The case arose from a first information report (FIR) registered in 2016 at a police station in Punjab under Sections 406 and 420 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The complainant alleged that Amit Gupta, along with others including Virk, induced her family to invest large sums of money on the assurance of a film role. Gupta was later declared a proclaimed offender in the predicate offence.

The Court noted that Virk was neither charge-sheeted by the police in the predicate offence nor summoned by a magistrate when a private complaint was filed. It also took into account that nearly Rs 2.7 crore had already been returned to the complainant by the principal accused. Virk was arrested by the ED in August 2025.