HC grants conditional bail to Gujarat bizman

HYDERABAD: The Telangana High Court, on Wednesday, granted conditional bail to a Gujarat-based businessman, Naisar Shailesh Kothari, in a case registered by Enforcement Directorate under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002. The court ordered said he could be released on bail after executing a personal bond of `5 lakh, with two sureties each of the same amount. Out of the two sureties, one should be from his native place. Besides, the court directed him to personally appear before the ED every Friday till  the completion of the investigation and to fully cooperate with the probe agency. 

Justice G Sri Devi passed this order in the petition filed by Shailesh Kothari with a plea to release him on bail in connection with the case registered against him by the ED on August 17, 2020. The petitioner-accused was engaged in the trade of cryptocurrency and is connected to certain companies involved in organising online gaming, cheating the public and diverting profits to China. The probe agency has recorded the statement of many employees and customers of companies such as Linkyun Technology Private Limited, Dokypay Technology Private Limited and others.

The ED has a strong suspicion that these companies were acting as payment aggregators for illegal Chinese apps, and were involved in international hawala activities under the garb of e-commerce and dating sites.  After hearing both sides, Justice Sri Devi found that the petitioner did not have any direct dealing with the complainant and allowed conditional bail for the accused.