Insta influencer held for duping people, laundering funds

The Enforcement Directorate has arrested an Instagram influencer, who is also the owner of a beauty product company, for allegedly defrauding people by soliciting money under false pretence, an official said here on Wednesday.

The accused, Sandeepa Virk, was placed under arrest on August 12 and later produced before a court which sent her to ED's custody till August 14.

According to the official, a massive search operation was carried out in Delhi and Mumbai on August 12 and 13 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), in connection with the case involving Virk and her associates.

The agency's probe stems from an FIR filed by Police Station Phase-8, SAS Nagar, Punjab, under Sections 406 and 420 of the Indian Penal Code.

Investigators allege Virk acquired property using fraudulent means. As per the officer, Virk purportedly owns hyboocare.com, a website claiming to sell FDA-approved beauty products. However, the ED says the products are non-existent, the site suffers from persistent payment issues, lacks user registration, and shows minimal social media activity. "These factors indicate the site is a front for laundering funds," the officer said.

The ED's investigation also linked Virk to Angarai Natarajan Sethuraman, former Director of erstwhile Reliance Capital Limited, with whom she had been allegedly communicating regarding illegal liaising work.

The agency claimed that in 2018, approximately Rs 18 crore from Reliance Commercial Finance Ltd was disbursed to Sethuraman in violation of lending norms, alongside a Rs 22 crore home loan from Reliance Capital Limited.

"A large portion of these loans is said to have been siphoned off and remains unpaid," said the officer. During the raids, ED sleuths seized incriminating documents and recorded statements from key individuals, including one person named Farrukh Ali. Further probe is on, the officer added.

Meanwhile Sethuraman firmly denied any connection or involvement with Sandeepa Virk or any transactions related to her. "These allegations are entirely baseless," Sethuraman said through a statement. He further clarified that the home loan he received from Reliance Capital was granted following due process and was secured by the property offered as collateral.