Mumbai: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned comedian Kapil Sharma and actor Huma Qureshi in connection with the Mahadev betting app case.
According to ED sources, in this case, ED also suspects the involvement of several other celebrities and certain sports personalities who promoted the app.
Earlier on Tuesday, actor Ranbir Kapoor was summoned by the ED on Friday (October 6) in connection with the Mahadev betting app case.
Mahadev app founders are running 4-5 similar apps. The apps were being run from the UAE. All these apps were making a profit of several crores of rupees every day.
A lavish wedding held this February in the United Arab Emirates caught the attention of the Enforcement Directorate as the entire money-around Rs 200 crore- spent on the bash was paid entirely in cash.
At his wedding held in Ras Al-Khaimah, Sourabh Chandrakar, one of the promoters of the Mahadev Online Book Betting app, hired private jets to ferry family members from Nagpur to the UAE and paid celebrities from the Indian film industry to perform, according to the ED.
The agency in mid-September released details of its investigation into the online money laundering case linked with the Mahadev Online Book Betting app. Wedding planners, dancers, decorators etc., were hired from Mumbai and hawala channels were used to make payments in cash, ED had said.
Mahadev Online Book Betting app is an umbrella syndicate arranging online platforms for enabling illegal betting websites to enrol new users, create user IDs and the laundering of money through a layered web of benami bank accounts.
The ED said Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal who hail from Bhilai in Chattisgarh are the two main promoters of the Mahadev betting platform and ran their operations from Dubai. They had created an empire for themselves in that country.
The agency had recently conducted searches at 39 locations across Raipur, Bhopal, Mumbai and Kolkata and seized illegal assets worth Rs 417 crore. ED has also earnestly taken up investigation abroad.
A Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) special court at Raipur has also issued non-bailable warrants against the suspects.
The ED which is investigating money laundering charges in connection with the Mahadev Online Book app had last month conducted searches in Chhattisgarh and arrested four accused including the chief liaisoner of the betting syndicate, which the probe agency alleged was organizing payment of bribes to senior government functionaries as ‘protection money.’
ED had stated that it has successfully identified other major players involved in the money laundering operations of the Mahadev online booking app.
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