On 8th November (Wednesday), officials of the Mumbai Police announced that they had registered an FIR against 32 people, including the “promoter” of the ‘Mahadev Book’ betting app. They have been booked for allegedly committing fraud of nearly Rs 15,000 crore. As per media reports, some of the accused are based out of Dubai, London, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, West Bengal, and Gujarat.
The first information report (FIR) was registered on Tuesday against “app promoter Saurabh Chandrakar”, and key accused Ravi Uppal and Shubham Soni, and others for committing the fraud since 2019 until now, as per the Matunga police official.
The officials said that the case was registered on the direction of the 30th Kurla court under Indian Penal Code sections 420 (cheating), 120-B (conspiracy), IT Act (for cyber-terrorism), and the Gambling Act. According to the FIR, the accused have defrauded people to the tune of Rs 15,000 crore.
As per the police complaint, the app’s promoters and other accused broadcast advertisements across different social media platforms, encouraging people to participate in betting on a variety of games, including cricket, football, tennis, casino games, and teen patti.
The Police sources said that the accused made wrongful gains from the business and invested huge money in hotels, properties, and in other businesses in India and abroad.
The cyber fraud had allegedly been committed between January 2019 and November 2023, police said.
Major developments so far in the alleged Mahadev Book Betting app scam
On 5th November (Sunday), the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) issued orders to block 22 illegal betting apps and websites, including Mahadev Book which allegedly has links with the D-company.
Prior to that, on 3rd November, ED revealed that regular payments have been made by Mahadev Book App Promoters to Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and so far around Rs 508 crore has been paid.
Meanwhile, around 34 Bollywood celebrities including actors, singers, dancers, etc had been under the Enforcement Directorate (ED) scanner in the Mahadev Betting scam case. Click here, to read the names of all these celebrities who are under the ED scanner in this case.
According to the ED, several Bollywood celebrities including singers, dancers, and actors attended the 200-crore wedding ceremony of the scam-accused owner of Mahadev Betting App, Saurabh Chandrakar. The wedding took place in UAE in February 2023.
Further, the anti-money laundering agency has already arrested four accused persons, seized proceeds of crime worth more than Rs 450 crore, and filed a prosecution complaint against 14 accused persons. The ED findings also revealed that the promoters of the Mahadev Betting app had links with Dawood Ibrahim’s D-company.
