Mahadev app betting case: ED attaches fresh assets worth Rs 388 crore

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday said it had attached fresh assets worth about Rs 388 crore in its ongoing money laundering investigation into the Mahadev online betting case, in which various high-ranking politicians and bureaucrats from Chhattisgarh were alleged to have been involved.

These include movable assets — investment made by Mauritius-based company Tano Investment Opportunities Fund related to Dubai-based ‘hawala operator’ Hari Shankar Tibrewal through FPI and FDI — and properties in Chhattisgarh, Mumbai and Madhya Pradesh in the name of promoters of multiple betting apps and websites, panel operators and associates of the promoters, the federal agency said in a statement.

A provisional order was issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on December 5 to attach these assets with a total value of Rs 387.99 crore, the ED said.

Tibrewal is being investigated by the agency in this case. The ED has issued multiple such orders during this investigation and with the latest order, assets worth Rs 2,295.61 crore have been either frozen, attached or seized so far.

Eleven people have been arrested in this case and the ED has filed four chargesheets.

The agency has alleged in the past that its probe into the Mahadev Online Betting (MOB) gaming and betting app has shown the involvement of various high-ranking politicians and bureaucrats from Chhattisgarh. The application’s two main promoters, Sourabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal, hail from the state.

According to the ED, the MOB app is an umbrella syndicate arranging online platforms for enabling illegal betting websites to enrol new users, create user IDs and launder money through a layered web of benami bank accounts.