The Enforcement he Directorate (ED) seized assets valued at Rs 11.14 crore that belonged to former Indian cricket players Suresh Raina and Shikhar Dhawan. The action was taken in relation to the probe into illegal betting platform 1xBet. The attachment included an immovable property valued at Rs 4.5 crore that belongs to Dhawan and mutual fund investments worth Rs 6.64 crore that are held in Raina’s name.
An official stated, “The action forms part of an ongoing probe into illegal offshore betting platforms, including 1xBet and its surrogate brands 1xBat and 1xBat Sporting Lines. The investigation, based on multiple FIRs filed by various state police agencies, revealed that these entities were operating unauthorised online betting and gambling services targeting Indian users.”
According to the agency, the two have signed sponsorship contracts with overseas companies that support 1xBet’s surrogates. The payments for these endorsements were made via multilayer foreign transactions. The motive was to hide their unlawful origin, proceeds of crime connected to these betting operations.
The agency found throughout the investigation that 1xBet was using more than 6,000 mule accounts to operate large betting networks in India. The actual source of funds was concealed by routing customer payments through several payment channels without adequate KYC verification. Merchants were brought on board under false pretences and their claimed business activity did not match their transaction patterns.
More than Rs 4 crore in 60 bank accounts were frozen and critical information was found during further searches at four payment gateways. Over Rs 1,000 crore in suspected money laundering has been found till now.
The public has been advised by the ED to exercise caution when it comes to online gaming and betting programs. It warned residents against disclosing private account information to unidentified parties and threatened to charge them under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, which carries a maximum seven-year prison sentence.
The agency reaffirmed that unauthorised betting sites encourage large-scale money laundering and other illegal activities in addition to encouraging financial crime. Additional research continues on the 1xBet network and related people.
As part of this inquiry, the ED has questioned the aforementioned players in addition to former cricketers such as Yuvraj Singh and Robin Uthappa, actors Sonu Sood and Urvashi Rautela, former Trinamool Congress MP Mimi Chakraborty as well as Bengali actor Ankush Hazra, among others.
The investigation goes beyond cricket players and actors as representatives of Google and Meta are also being questioned by the ED. Additionally, the government has targeted Parimatch, another betting software, with multi-state searches.
The Indian government has introduced new legislation to outlaw real-money internet gaming at the same time as these investigations. The ED’s efforts are indicative of a stepped-up attempt to stop illicit betting activities in the nation. The investigation seeks to identify possible infractions pertaining to tax evasion and user fraud by these betting platforms which are involved in large amounts of money.
