Delhi: Lakshay Vij gets regular bail in PMLA case linked to transnational cyber fraud

New Delhi [India], March 20 : The Rouse Avenue Court has granted regular bail to Lakshay Vij who is an accused in a money laundering case linked to alleged transnational cyber fraud of hundreds of crores.
Special Judge Gaurav Rao on Wednesday granted regular bail to Lakshay Vij after considering the submissions made by the counsel for the accused and the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
The court has granted him bail on furnishing a personal bond of Rs. 5 lakh and a surety bond in the like amount. They directed the accused to deposit his passport in court. The court has also imposed some other considerations.
While granting bail, the court considered the period of custody of 5 months, the trial is yet to be commenced and his medical condition. It is also noted that Cognizance has not been taken.
Advocate Prabhav Ralli had moved a bail plea for Vij. It was argued that his medical condition was not well. It was also submitted that ED has not been able to establish the amount of proceeds of the crime.
On February 7, 2025, he withdrew his bail plea from the High Court with the liberty to approach the trial court for bail. His earlier two bail pleas were dismissed in August and December 2024.
His bail plea was opposed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). It also filed a reply to the bail plea.
He was arrested in July 2024. A Prosecution Complaint (PC) has been filed.
On November 18, 2024, The Rouse Avenue court dismissed the bail plea of Lakshay Vij given his alleged role in floating bank accounts in a fake identity.
The Court had said, " As per the Prosecution Complaint (PC) several hundreds of crores of rupees approximately Rs.500 crores were laundered/layered/ transferred in around one year in dummy/fake accounts from the accounts, also in the name of dummy/fake entities, wherein the amounts received from defrauding Lisa Roth money was credited."
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) alleged that the laptop Lisa Roth was hacked, a number flashed on her screen and when she contacted the number displayed on her laptop screen, a person reported to be a Microsoft employee responded and suggested that her investment of $400,000 in Fidelity Investment account was not safe.
He misguided Roth to transfer money from her Fidelity Investment Account to a more secure account and also suggested she contact Fidelity Investments on a given number.
The ED stated that when Lisa Roth called the given number, the caller gained unauthorized remote access to her computer and opened a cryptocurrency OKcoin Account in the name of Roth using her mobile number and email ID. He also advised her to transfer USD 400,000 to the said OKcoin Account.
Lisa Roth then transferred the amount from Fidelity Investments to her bank account in First State Bank. Thereafter, she transferred USD 400,000 to her said OKcoin account, however, when she logged into her OKcoin account after a few weeks, she found that her account was empty, ED alleged.