US Citizen Cheating Case: Delhi Court Grants ED 5-Day Custody Of Lakshay Vij

The Rouse Avenue Court on Wednesday has ordered Lakshay Vij to remain in the custody of the Enforcement Directorate for 5 days in connection with a money laundering case.

This case involves defrauding a US woman of USD 4 lakh and laundering the money through various accounts of bogus entities.

Special Judge Gaurav Rao directed that Lakshay Vij be held by the ED until July 28. The ED had initially requested a seven-day custody period for Vij, who was arrested on Monday. The court stated, “Considering the nature of allegations and detailed submissions made in the application as well as other material shown at the time of submission seeking remand which includes the statement of Praful Gupta according to which the money was laundered as per instruction of Lakshay Vij as well as extract of WhatsApp/messages and to unearth the money trail, ascertain the role of others involved accused Lakshay Vij is remanded to the ED custody till July 28.”

Advocate Nitesh Rana, representing Vij, opposed the custody request, arguing that there were no valid grounds for the arrest, deeming it illegal and unlawful. However, Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) Simon Benjamin supported the ED’s request for a seven-day custody period.

The ED’s case is based on a CBI investigation involving Prafull Gupta and others, accused of criminal conspiracy and defrauding a US citizen. The victim’s laptop was hacked, and she received a message instructing her to contact a phone number. Posing as a Microsoft employee, the caller convinced her that her USD 4 lakh investment was at risk and advised her to transfer the money to a more secure account. He then provided another contact number.

Upon calling the second number, the scammer gained remote access to her computer, opened a cryptocurrency account in her name, and guided her to transfer the funds. The victim moved the money to her bank account and then to the cryptocurrency account, only to find it empty after a few weeks.

The stolen funds were converted into cryptocurrency and transferred to the accused’s Binance and FTX wallet addresses. The victim, Lisa Roth, filed a complaint, leading to Indian authorities being notified. The CBI subsequently registered an FIR against Prafful Gupta, Sarita Gupta, and other suspects for the alleged cheating offense.

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