Mahadev betting case: ED tightens noose around businessman Vikas Garg, attaches assets worth ₹940.77 crore | Today’s news
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) said on Friday that it has attached movable and immovable properties ₹940.77 crore linked to businessman Vikas Garg, his family members and businesses allegedly owned or controlled by him in the probe into illegal betting operations of Mahadev Online Book and Skyexchange.
Encumbered assets include residential real estate, land, equity interests, and other securities. The agency said the latest seizure brought the total value of property seized, seized and frozen in the case to nearly ₹3,800 million crowns.
The action was taken by the ED zonal office in Raipur through an interim attachment order issued under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
The latest move is part of the ED’s ongoing money laundering probe into alleged illegal online betting networks run through Mahadev Online Book and Skyexchange.
The ED has launched an investigation based on a First Information Report (FIR) registered by the Chhattisgarh police along with other FIRs registered by police authorities in Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal against operators, promoters and associates of alleged illegal online betting platforms. The FIRs include allegations of criminal conspiracy, cheating and forgery.
What did ED say?
The ED said its investigation revealed that “the betting syndicate operates through a franchised ‘panel’ network operated from abroad and generates criminal proceeds of more than ₹450 million per month from illegal betting operations.
The agency further said that the proceeds of crime from the illegal betting operations of Mahadev Online Book and Skyexchange were laundered through “a multi-layered structure of accommodation inputs arranged against cash through a network of shell entities and other layered transactions designed to project tainted funds as untainted”.
“The investigation revealed that proceeds from criminal activity are pooled ₹940.77 million (approx) Mahadev Online Book and Skyexchange betting operations were routed in this way to entities owned and controlled by Vikas Garg,” the agency said in a statement.
“The funds were further layered through various entities and were used, among other things, to acquire shares, securities and other assets.”
The agency said it had earlier issued seven interim attachment orders and filed prosecution complaints along with supplementary complaints to the special PMLA court in Raipur, which took cognizance of the money laundering case.
Before this new attachment, the ED had already attached, attached or frozen movable and immovable assets worth around ₹2,825 crore, including properties located overseas, under investigation.
