Bengaluru Court Denies Bail to Sunish Hegde in Rs 3.3 Crore Crypto Laundering Case

The Principal District and Sessions Court in Bengaluru has denied bail to 34-year-old local businessman Sunish Hegde, citing prima facie evidence of his active involvement in laundering money stolen by international hacker Srikrishna Ramesh, alias Sriki.

The court rejected the regular bail application on June 25, with the ruling detailed on Thursday, keeping the gambling joint operator in custody as the Enforcement Directorate (ED) continues its investigation. The court observed that the materials collected during the money laundering investigation indicate Hegde's active involvement, stating his role cannot be characterized as peripheral.

Hegde, who operates gambling and poker joints in Karnataka, was arrested by the ED on May 8 alongside the prime accused, Sriki, and accountant Robin Khandelwal. The federal agency is investigating a syndicate accused of hacking cryptocurrency exchanges and gaming websites to steal virtual digital assets between 2017 and 2020.

In his bail petition, Hegde argued that he lacked familiarity with cryptocurrencies and that the ED was reviving dormant matters from an initial 2021 case. He also claimed the prosecution's case relied solely on statements recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

However, the ED countered Hegde's claims by presenting digital evidence of a cryptocurrency wallet on a mainstream trading platform. Following his arrest, investigators uncovered transactions totaling approximately 3,52,000 USDT (Tether), valued at nearly Rs 3.3 crore, tied to a Binance account registered in Hegde's name.

The court pointed out that in complex financial crimes involving digital assets, the timing of an arrest is not a determinative factor for granting bail, as tracking the exact movement and layering of funds requires custody.

Additionally, the court rejected an anticipatory bail plea filed by Prasidh Shetty, an associate of Hegde and Sriki. The ED alleges that both Shetty and Hegde were beneficiaries of the cyber crimes, pointing to a June 2017 incident where they allegedly received 60.6 Bitcoin, then valued at Rs 1.14 crore, stolen from the Unocoin crypto exchange in Tumkur.