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In strict action against the illegal sale of beauty falsely using the “FDA-approved” tag, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is conducting a special investigation following an FIR registered in Punjab.
The New Delhi-headquartered agency conducted search operations on into one Sandeepa Virk and her associates at multiple locations in the national capital and Mumbai on August 12 and 13, under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
Virk was arrested on August 12 and produced before the Competent Court. The court has granted custody to ED till August 14, for further investigation, it said.
What is matter?
In a statement on Wednesday, the ED said that the individuals had “alleged to have exerted undue influence through misrepresentation and defrauded individuals by soliciting money under false pretences”.
The ED probe revealed that Virk has acquired immovable property in her name by making false promises and cheating.
She claimed to be the owner of hyboocare.com, a website purportedly selling FDA-approved beauty products. However, the products listed on the site were found to be non-existent. The website lacked a user registration option and was plagued by persistent payment gateway issues, according to the ED.
A scrutiny of the website uncovered minimal social media engagement, an inactive WhatsApp contact number, and an absence of transparent organisational details, all of which reinforce the finding of non-genuine commercial activity, according to the ED.
“These factors including limited product range, inflated pricing, false claims of FDA approval, and technical inconsistencies, indicate that the website serves as a front for laundering funds,” it noted.
According to the ED, a person with whom Virk was in regular touch with was Angarai Natarajan Sethuraman, a former director of erstwhile Reliance Capital, with whom she had been communicating regarding illegal liaising work. Search at Sethuraman’s residence confirmed the same, the ED noted.
“Besides, diversion of funds for personal benefit has also been unearthed during the course of such search action. In 2018, public money of Rs.18 Croreapprox. belonging to Reliance Commercial Finance Ltd (RCFL)was disbursed to Sethuraman by flouting prudent lending norms. The funds were lent under terms that allowed deferment of principal as well as interest, with multiple waivers granted and no due diligence conducted,” it added.
It also stated that a home loan worth Rs 22 crore was provided by Reliance Capital by violating the prudential norms, with a large part of the loans “eventually siphoned off and remained unpaid”.
During the searches operation, several incriminating documents and records were seized and statements of key persons and associates, including one Farrukh Ali, were recorded, it said.
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