Bollywood actor Ranbir Kapoor on Thursday sought two weeks time from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the Mahadev online betting app case. He was summoned by the ED in connection to an online lottery investigation case. The actor was asked to appear on Friday at the agency’s Raipur office. 

In a massive action against the online gambling app Mahadev Book money laundering case, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had seized Rs 417 crore after carrying out searches in Kolkata, Bhopal, Mumbai. The probe agency said that the ED recently conducted widespread searches against the money laundering networks linked with Mahadev APP in cities like Kolkata, Bhopal, Mumbai, etc., and retrieved large amount of incriminating evidences and has frozen or seized proceeds of crime worth Rs 417 crore.

The company promoted by Sourabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal was being operated from Dubai. It was allegedly using the online book betting application to enrol new users, create IDs and launder money through a layered web of benami bank accounts, the agency has alleged.

The ED investigation has shown that the Mahadev Online Book App is run from a central head office in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), officials said. It operates by franchising “Panel/Branches” to their known associates on a 70-30 profit ratio, the agency had said.

Large-scale hawala operations are done to siphon off the proceeds of betting to offshore accounts, it had said. A huge expenditure in cash has also been incurred in India for advertising betting websites to attract new users and franchise (panel) seekers, it had said. The company promoters hail from Bhilai in Chhattisgarh and the Mahadev online book betting application is an umbrella syndicate arranging online platforms for enabling illegal betting websites.

(with inputs from PTI)

Latest India News