Rs 200 crore wedding in UAE puts betting app promoter under ED scanner

NEW DELHI: A lavish wedding held this February in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) caught the attention of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) 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 an online betting platform, hired private jets to ferry family members from Nagpur to the UAE and paid celebrities from the film industry to perform, according to the ED.

The agency on Friday 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. “Sudden and illegal riches are being openly flaunted by them”, the ED said in a statement.

Mahadev Online Book Betting app is an umbrella syndicate arranging online platforms for enabling illegal betting websites to enroll 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 Chhattisgarh, 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. The 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 liaison of the betting syndicate, which the probe agency alleged was organising payment of bribes to senior government functionaries as ‘protection money.’

“Their Mahadev Online Book is run from a central head office in UAE and operates by franchising ‘Panel/Branches’ to their known associates on 70 per cent-30 per cent profit ratio. Large-scale hawala operations are done to siphon off the proceeds of betting to off-shore accounts. Large expenditure in cash is also being done in India for advertising of betting websites and self-grandizement necessary to attract new users and franchise (panel) seekers”, the ED said.

As per assets seized by the ED, Rs 112 crore was delivered via hawala channel to an event management company — R-1 Events Pvt Ltd of Yogesh Popat — and hotel bookings costing to the tune of Rs 42 crore were done by paying in cash in Arab Emirates Dirham.

Searches were conducted by the central agency at the premises of Yogesh Popat, one Mithilesh and other “linked organizers” and evidence relating to the receipt of Rs 112 crore hawala money is “crystallized”. Subsequently, searches were conducted on angadias named by Yogesh Popat.

The searches resulted in the seizure of unaccounted cash of Rs 2.37 crore. It was found that many celebrities have been endorsing these betting entities and performing at their functions in return for hefty fees layered through dubious transactions but ultimately paid from the proceeds of online betting.

The ED also conducted searches on Rapid Travels of Dheeraj Ahuja and Vishal Ahuja in Bhopal. This entity was responsible for the entire ticketing operations of the Mahadev app promoters, family, business associates, and celebrities.

“The illicit cash earnings from the betting panels were cleverly deposited by the Ahuja brothers with main ticket providers, and the wallet balance was used to book domestic and international tickets. Rapid Travels was involved in making travel arrangements for most events of the Mahadev group including the annual star-studded events organised in UAE in the month of September”, the ED said.

The ED stated that it has successfully identified other major players involved in the money laundering operations of the Mahadev online booking app. During the investigations, it was found that one Kolkata-based Vikash Chhaparia was handling all the hawala-related operations for the Mahadev app. The ED conducted searches at his known premises and at his associate Govind Kedia.

It was found that with the help of Govind Kedia, Vikas Chaparia through his entities — Perfect Plan Investments LLP, Exim General Trading FZCO, and Techpro IT Solutions LLC — was investing heavily in the Indian stock market through the Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI) route.

Accordingly, cash derivatives and other security holdings worth Rs 236.3 crore in the name of entities beneficially owned by Vikas Chhaparia have been frozen by ED under PMLA 2002. Further, assets worth Rs 160 crore in Demat holdings of Govind Kumar Kedia have also been frozen by ED under PMLA 2002.

Searches at the premise of Govind Kumar Kedia also resulted in the seizure of Indian currency of Rs 18 lakhs, gold, and jewellery valued at Rs 13 crore. (ANI)