The bail application of the suspect in the $228 million encryption scam case in India has been rejected.

[Coin World] The High Court of Himachal Pradesh has rejected the bail application of Abhishek Sharma, a suspect involved in a $228 million Crypto Assets scam in India. The scam has over 80,000 victims, spread across Himachal Pradesh and neighboring states. While rejecting the bail request on Friday, Judge Sushil Kukreja emphasized the seriousness of economic crimes and their impact on society. The court stated that investigations show Sharma is one of the senior members in the chain and a close associate of the main defendant, Subhash Sharma. The main defendant, Subhash Sharma, has already fled and left India, leaving his accomplices facing prosecution.

Judge Kukreja acknowledged that Article 21 of the Indian Constitution guarantees the right to a speedy trial and prohibits the indefinite detention of undertrial prisoners. The court ruled that although Sharma has been detained since October 28, 2023, the length of his detention alone is insufficient to justify granting bail to someone "initially found to be involved in significant economic crimes." The court stated: "Economic crimes are considered serious offenses because they affect the national economy, and therefore such crimes should be taken seriously." The court emphasized that bail decisions for economic crimes must consider "the greater interest of the public and the state."

The scam began in 2018 but came to light when investor Arun Singh Guleria filed an FIR at the Palampur police station on September 24, 2023. Victims received virtual Crypto Assets in exchange for their investments in the Subhash Sharma platform. The defendants promised investors through websites like Voscrow and Hypenext that their digital coin investments would double their funds. According to the investigation, over 1,000 state police officers were deceived.

The investigation uncovered a pyramid scheme, where the defendants organized investor meetings in Mandi, Kullu, Baddi, Chandigarh, Una, Hamirpur, and Palampur. Investigators stated that the defendants created shell companies and invested the proceeds of the fraud into real estate in Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Punjab, and Haryana. They also used stolen funds to purchase luxury goods and high-end vehicles. The fraud mechanism involved manipulating Crypto Assets prices while recruiting new investors through existing victims.