HP High Court Denies Bail To Accused In ₹500 Crore Crypto Fraud, Says Public Interest Must Be Considered In Cases Involving Grave Economic Offences

The Himachal Pradesh High Court has denied bail to the accused involved in a ₹500-Crore Cryptocurrency Fraud Case, holding that economic offences of such huge magnitude, which have a deep-rooted conspiracy and cause massive public loss, must be viewed seriously, and mere prolonged custody or trial delay is not a sufficient ground for bail.Rejecting the Bail Application, Justice Sushil Kukreja remarked that: “The economic offences are considered grave offences as they affect the economy of the country and such offences are to be viewed seriously. In such type of offences, while granting bail, the Court has to keep in mind, inter alia, the larger interest of public and the State”. The Court noted that thousands of investors have fallen victims to the fraudulent scheme, as more than 80,000/- investors have contributed over the past four years with a total investment of around Rs. 2,000/- crores and there is an estimated loss of Rs. 500/- crores to the investors and the petitioner was a close associate of main accused and also was one of the top liners in the chain. Background Facts:The petitioner had filed bail application under Section 483 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, seeking regular bail, contending that he had been in custody for a long time and the trial was not likely to conclude in the near future, keeping him in custody would serve no fruitful purpose.According to the complaint a group of individuals that included the petitioner, were involved in fraudulent activities related to crypto-currency through websites such as Voscrow.io and Hypenext.The complainant along with others had invested through the website. In return of the investments virtual currency was provided to the investors through the website and were promised that their investments would be doubled. Some investors initially received payouts, which boosted trust and led to more investments. However, on December 25, 2021, allocations stopped with a promise that they will be resumed later. Afterwards the accused tied up with another company, Hype next in which people invested again and also received partial funds against their investments. Later, citing “technical issues,” the promoters sought five months to clear dues via a public video. The total amount involved in these schemes was ₹18 crore. The accused then promised to activate new IDs on Aglobal.io, but neither the complainant nor his community received payments.In 2023 a special investigation team was formed to investigate cryptocurrency-related fraud across Himachal Pradesh. Upon investigation it was revealed that the accused allured people with promise of high returns on crypto-currency investments, creating a network of investors, who recruited others, manipulating crypto-currency prices and ultimately causing financial loss to the investors. The petitioner, joined as a member in 2018 to promote the Korvio crypto platform and had registered on multi-level marketing software. He orchestrated gathering at various locations and delivered speeches with exaggerated content, like asserting that price of the korvio coin was organically increasing based on the demand. The Court dismissed the bail application holding that the that the matter was an economic offence of huge magnitude and had involvement of the petitioner. It remarked that merely because of the fact that the petitioner is in custody for the last about one year and nine months, this Court does not deem it appropriate to enlarge him on bail at this stage.Case Name: Abhishek Sharma v/s State of H.P. & Ors. Case No.: Cr. MP (M) No. 485 of 2025Date of Decision: 08.08.2025For the Petitioner: Mr. Manoj Pathak, Advocate. For the Respondents: Mr. J.S. Guleria and Mr. Ankush Thakur, Deputy Advocates GeneralClick Here To Read/Download Order

HP High Court Denies Bail To Accused In ₹500 Crore Crypto Fraud, Says Public Interest Must Be Considered In Cases Involving Grave Economic Offences

Mehak Aggarwal

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