The Enforcement Directorate (ED) said on Saturday (Dec 7, 2024) that it has seized fresh assets worth around ₹388 crore in its ongoing money laundering probe into the Mahadev online gambling case involving several high-ranking politicians and bureaucrats Chhattisgarh would have been involved in this.
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“These include movable assets – investments made by Mauritius-based firm 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 on behalf of the promoters of several gambling apps and websites, panel operators and employees of the promoters,” the federal agency said in a statement.
“On December 5, 2024, an interim order was issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to attach these assets worth a total of ₹387.99 crore,” the ED said. Tibrewal is being investigated by the agency in this case.
The ED has issued several such orders during this investigation and with the latest order, assets worth ₹2,295.61 crore have been frozen, seized or confiscated so far. Eleven people have been arrested in the case and the ED has filed four chargesheets.
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The agency has in the past claimed that its investigation into gaming and betting app Mahadev Online Betting (MOB) has revealed the involvement of several senior politicians and bureaucrats from Chhattisgarh. The two main promoters of the app, Sourabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal, are from the state.
According to the ED, the MOB app is an umbrella syndicate that organizes online platforms to enable illegal gambling websites to sign up new users, create user IDs and launder money through a layered web of benami bank accounts.
Published – Dec 7, 2024 2:32 PM IST
