While investigating a money laundering case linked to an illegal betting app, involving over ₹331 crore deposited in a bank account over eight months, Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials traced the transactions to a bike taxi driver who was working with a well-known taxi aggregator just to make money, according to PTI.
What further attracted ED’s attention was that more than ₹1 crore, out of the total ₹331 crores deposited was used to cover expenses for a ‘grand destination wedding’ at a luxury hotel in Udaipur, Rajasthan. Officials said the wedding is linked to a young politician from Gujarat who may soon be summoned for questioning.
The ED believes that the driver’s bank account was a ‘mule’ platform.
Investigators quickly realized this was a typical case of a “mule” account being used to channel illicit funds. A mule account is used to divert illegal funds generated by financial crimes and the real owner is not the user. Such accounts are created using fake or hired KYC where someone lends their account in exchange for a commission.
Officials informed PTI that the ED had come across a money laundering case related to online betting on the drivers of the Ride-Hailing platform.
₹331.36 cr between 19 Aug 2024 and 16 Apr 2025
Officials said deposits of the total amount have been received into the driver’s bank account ₹331.36 crore rupees between August 19, 2024 and April 16, 2025. Alarmed by “suspicious” multi-crore transactions in just eight months, the federal agency raided the address shown in the driver’s bank records.
Investigators found that the driver lived in a two-room shack in a modest neighborhood in Delhi and spent the day on the road riding a bicycle for a living.
The driver reportedly told ED investigators during questioning that he was unaware of the bank transactions and could not identify the bride, groom or their families whose wedding in Udaipur was “financed” through his account.
The ED found that “huge” deposits were coming into the account from multiple unidentified sources, which were “quickly” diverted to other suspicious accounts.
Officials said one source of the funds deposited in that bank account is linked to illegal gambling. Meanwhile, the agency is now verifying other sources and destinations of transactions made through this account, the report said.
