New Delhi: A lookout circular (LOC) has been issued against the man who allegedly sold fake Ozempic worth Rs 180 crore to a United States-based firm, officers have said. According to the Delhi Police, Vicky Ramancha, the accused, had allegedly boasted about his political connections and government affiliations in India to win the confidence of Assure Global LLC, the US firm.
The LOC was issued last week.
In July 2023, his subsidiary, R & R Global Procurement Corporation, signed a deal with Assure Global for the supply of 1.25 lakh doses of Ozempic to the US firm directly from China. Pharmaceutical major Novo Nordisk is the original manufacturer of Ozempic, which is used to manage blood sugar levels in people with Type-2 diabetes. The firm manufactures the injectable medication in Denmark.
After detecting the alleged fraud, months after no action was taken on its complaint by the Delhi Police filed last August, Assure Global LLC had approached the Delhi’s Patiala House Court, through its advocate Namit Saxena, to seek directions for an FIR against Ramancha. On May 29, the court ordered the filing of an FIR within a day’s time.
Following directions from the court, trouble for Ramancha deepened on June 3 this year when the police filed an FIR under sections 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 406 and 120 B (criminal breach of trust) of the “Indian Penal Code (IPC)” against him.
Ramancha, who has himself stated in court through his lawyer that he was a non-resident Indian (NRI) from July 2023 to July this year, tried getting the FIR quashed but to no avail.
In August, he also moved an anticipatory bail plea before Additional Sessions Judge Saurabh Pratap Singh Laler of Patiala House Court. On August 11, his bail plea was rejected.
Currently, an investigation is underway and the police are trying to verify the associates and employees of Ramancha’s companies.
The Delhi Police sent multiple summons to his Motilal Nagar-3, Goregaon West, Mumbai address — on July 25 and 30, and August 6 and 8. However, the notices were returned since “no such person (lives) at this address”.
While Ramancha had mentioned this address in the plea seeking the quashing of the FIR against him before the Delhi High Court, a few days later, he changed his address in the bail plea moved before the trial court.
Between September 13 and December 15, 2023, according to the FIR which names Ramancha, Assure Global made seven payments totalling $18, 834,382 to Ramancha’s two firms against two sale-purchase deeds. However, the company failed to receive its first Ozempic consignment of 20,000 units. The firm was reportedly reassured by Ramancha that he would deliver all 1.25 lakh units in December, as per the FIR.
According to the Economic Offences Wing (EOW), Ramancha had used notarised documents from Patiala House Court to “lend legitimacy to fraudulent agreements”.
The rest, the FIR states, was achieved with the help of bogus sale-purchase deeds, and the delivery of fake/relabeled drugs. The complaint lodged by the US company also mentions “an authorised representative (for Ramancha) residing in New Delhi”.
Source: The Indian Express
