ED Attaches Rs 11.14 Cr Assets Of Suresh Raina, Shikhar Dhawan In Illegal Betting App Case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached assets worth 11.14 crore belonging to Shikhar Dhawan and Suresh Raina in an illegal betting app money laundering case. The attachments have been ordered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.

ED Attaches Properties Of Shikhar Dhawan And Suresh Raina

As per the ED, the attachment includes mutual fund investments worth Rs 6.64 crore held in the name of Suresh Raina and an immovable property valued at Rs 4.5 crore held in the name of Shikhar Dhawan. The provisional order has been issued following an investigation against the operators of the illegal offshore betting platform 1xBet. The investigation has revealed that 1xBet and its surrogate brand 1xBat, 1xbat Sporting lines were engaged in promoting and facilitating illegal online betting and gambling operations across India.

ED Uncovered A Huge Scam Through Its Investigation

Both Shikhar and Raina were summoned earlier, and they were seen entering the ED headquarters in Delhi. "Investigators found that both Raina and Dhawan had knowingly entered into endorsement agreements with foreign entities to promote these brands. Payments for these endorsements were allegedly routed through foreign intermediaries to conceal the illicit origins of funds linked to proceeds from illegal betting activities," said the officials.
"Payments for endorsements were structured through layered transactions to disguise the illegal source of funds."

ED also confirmed that its probe further uncovered that 1xBet didn't have the authorisation to operate in India and used social media, online videos, and print advertisements to target Indian users. "Funds collected from Indian bettors were routed through over 6,000 mule accounts, which were used to disguise the origin of money. These funds were then moved through multiple payment gateways without proper KYC verification."

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The total amount suspected to be laundered is around 1000 crore.

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(With ANI Inputs)