Quick Summary: On January 19, 2026, the Delhi High Court refused to give Sanket Roy a pre-arrest bail in a big online investment fraud case. Judge Girish Kathpalia was in charge of the case, which involves accusations of tricking investors with fake initial public offerings (IPOs) and share investments.
Sanket Roy asked for pre-arrest bail for two cases filed under FIR Nos. 3/2025 and 04/2025 at the Cyber Police Station in Shahdara. The accusations are about a huge online scam where victims were tricked into investing in fake IPOs and shares through a Telegram group. The victims, hoping to make a lot of money, invested more than Rs. 24,00,000 in each case, only to find out they were cheated.
The investigation showed that about 6-7 people were involved in the scam, with almost 37 similar complaints across India, totaling around Rs. 7 crores in fake transactions. The police followed the money trail back to Sanket Roy, identifying him as a part of the scam.
"The complainant actually invested more than Rs.24,00,000/- in each of these cases... discovered that he had been cheated."
Roy's lawyer argued for bail, saying that he had already given back Rs. 4,40,000, which he claimed was his part from the scam. He also said that this money was earned through online gaming, not fraud. Additionally, Roy has been helping with the investigation.
The prosecution was against the bail, pointing out that Roy did not hand over his mobile phone, which is important for the investigation. They noted that Rs. 6.95 crores were deposited into Roy's account over five months, which they suspect is illegal money. The prosecution argued that keeping Roy in custody was necessary to find out the full details of the scam.
"According to their investigation within a short span of about 05 months, amount of approximately Rs.6.95 crores was deposited into the bank account of the accused/applicant."
Roy claimed that Rs. 1.39 crores were loans from non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), Rs. 20,00,000 was from a matured Fixed Deposit, and Rs. 1 crore was a family loan. However, he couldn't provide proof for these claims, especially for the supposed agricultural income.
Judge Girish Kathpalia rejected the bail requests, saying more investigation and possibly keeping Roy in custody for questioning were needed. The report from December 16, 2025, showed Roy's involvement as a middleman in the money laundering process.
"I do not find unjustified the submission of the prosecution that keeping the accused/applicant in custody for questioning would be necessary."
This case shows how complicated online scams can be and how the legal system deals with financial crimes in today's digital world.
