Rs 157 crore Ozempic scam: Court tightens grip on Vicky Ramancha

In the latest judicial development in the multi-million-dollar pharmaceutical fraud probe, a Delhi Court has dismissed a criminal revision petition filed by key accused Vicky Ramancha as the investigation moves swiftly to catch his absconding co-accused, Swapnadip Roy. The criminal prosecution stems from an international scam in which a US-based firm, Assure Global LLC, was fraudulently induced to pay $18,834,382 (approx. Rs 157 crore) for 125,000 units of Ozempic — a popular diabetes and weight-loss medication. A complaint filed last year by the US firm alleged that Ramancha, CEO of R & R Global Procurement Corporation, created fraudulent certificates of origin and trade documentation to build credibility, initially making partial deliveries to win trust before escalating to larger fraudulent transactions, duping them into buying Ozempic.

Additional Sessions Judge Syed Zishan Ali Warsi on August 31 upheld lower court orders that directed the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Delhi Police to register an FIR and conduct a full investigation. The judge ruled that prima facie elements of cheating and criminal conspiracy were clearly disclosed.

The complainant company, M/s Assure Global LLC, is represented before the court by Senior Advocate Maninder Singh and Advocate Namit Saxena.

The police probe has intensified significantly after the investigation revealed co-accused Swapnadip Roy as the main mastermind behind the international supply racket.

Building on this crucial lead, the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate Mridul Gupta had passed a major order on July 18, 2026, issuing an Open Non-Bailable Warrant (NBW) against Roy. Investigating Officer SI Sanjeet Singh had moved the application after police raided Roy’s addresses multiple times and issued statutory notices without success.

Satisfied that Roy is intentionally hiding from the law to evade arrest, Magistrate Mridul Gupta relied on the landmark Delhi High Court precedent (Sachin Dev Duggal Vs Directorate of Enforcement) to issue the open-dated warrant. The order targets his known residences in South Tripura and Dubai, UAE, to secure his presence and declare him an absconder.

The EOW filed a detailed Status Report before the High Court in the Bail Application detailing the role of the accused and grounds opposing pre-arrest bail. The complainant identified Swapnadip Roy as their first contact and “primary architect of the Ozempic procurement scheme, and he was the main person behind this entire fraud.”

Notices under Section 35(3) BNSS were issued to him multiple times to join the investigation, but he failed to appear. The status report confirms: “During investigation of the case open date NBW against Swapnadip Roy has been obtained from the Hon’ble Court and further investigation is in progress.”

The State strongly opposed anticipatory bail for Ramancha on twelve specific grounds, noting that co-accused Swapnadip Roy, identified as the primary architect behind the fraud scheme, continues to evade police probing and is currently absconding, making the arrest and custodial interrogation of Ramancha critical.

The prosecution stated that the complaint involves very serious allegations and emphasized that Ramancha directly grabbed the cheated funds and has completely failed to explain where the money went. Investigators pointed out major gaps in Ramancha’s financial and business transactions. Despite multiple opportunities, he failed to provide account statements for his Dubai-based firm, M/s RNR Premier Medical Equipments Trading LLC, which received victim funds. He could produce no proof of payment to the Chinese supplier (M/s Ouchi Pharmaceuticals Trade) for procuring the promised Ozempic stock. Investigation revealed that his US-based contracting entity, R & R Global Procurement, did not even have an active bank account.

Furthermore, police uncovered unexplained domestic financial traces linked to him. Ramancha opened an NRE/NRI bank account in Mumbai on August 8, 2023, receiving around `4.85 crore across 34 separate transfers between September 2023 and January 2024, which he could not justify. Finally, the State argued that custodial interrogation is essential because the cheated money remains unrecovered.

The complaint had alleged that the accused won the buyer’s trust by boasting about high-level Government affiliations in New Delhi. However, the drugs delivered were fake, relabelled, and repackaged consignments that were subsequently red-flagged and seized by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). To lend fake legitimacy to the deal, agreements bearing notarised stamps from Patiala House Courts were passed off to the complainant while the accused operated out of Dubai.

Earlier, on August 11, 2025, Additional Sessions Judge Saurabh Pratap Singh Laler rejected Ramancha’s anticipatory bail application. The judge observed: “Swift legal action against pharmaceutical crimes is essential for maintaining India’s position as the ‘Pharmacy of the World’ and protecting legitimate manufacturers from regulatory backlash.”

With the revision petition now dismissed by Additional Sessions Judge Syed Zishan Ali Warsi and an active Open NBW against absconding primary architect Swapnadip Roy, the EOW is pressing ahead with custodial interrogations and money-trail recoveries.