Raipur, Dec 7, 2024
The Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Raipur Zonal Office, has said it has issued a Provisional Attachment Order under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 attaching additional assets worth Rs 387.99 crore in Mahadev Online Book case.
“The attached assets are in the form of movable (Investment made by Mauritius based company, M/s Tano Investment Opportunities Fund related to Hari Shankar Tibrewal through FPI & FDI) and immovable property situated at Chhattisgarh, Mumbai and Madhya Pradesh held in the name of Promoters of the multiple betting app/websites, the panel operators and the associates of the promoters,” the probe agency said in a statement on Saturday.
The ED said its investigations revealed that M/s Mahadev Online Book Betting APP, an umbrella syndicate arranging online platforms for enabling illegal betting websites to enroll new users, create User IDs and laundering of money through a layered web of benami Bank accounts.
“Investigations conducted in the matter have led to the seizure/freezing of cash to the tune of Rs 19.36 crore and valuables totalling Rs 16.68 crore,” the statement said further.
Additionally, movable assets in the form of bank balance and securities having a total value of Rs 1729.17 crore have also been frozen. Earlier, two Provisional Attachment Orders attaching assets worth Rs 142.86 crore were issued in the subject case. Thus, the total Proceeds of Crime worth Rs 2295.61 crore (approximately) have been either seized/frozen/attached in this case.
During the investigation, the ED had arrested a total of 11 people so far and has filed four Prosecution Complaints before the Special Court (PMLA), Raipur.
Earlier, the ED investigation uncovered a vast network providing illegal betting in various games operated by Mahadev Online Book, which included poker, card games, cricket, badminton and tennis, and even extended to allowing bets on the Indian elections.
The platform also offered card games like Teen Patti, Poker, Dragon Tiger, and virtual cricket games, and others.
The platform has also been accused of match-fixing, laundering money through cryptocurrency, and rigging games to ensure profits for panel owners and heavy losses for players.(Agency)
