The Enforcement Directorate has arrested two more persons in connection with an investigation into the Mahadev online betting and gaming app case, according to the officials on Saturday (January 13). The persons were identified as Nitin Tibrewal and Amit Agrawal who were taken into custody under sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), and also produced before a special court in Raipur on Friday, ED lawyer Saurabh Pandey said.
The court sent them to ED custody till January 17, he added.
Tibrewal is alleged to be a "close associate" of an accused in the case, Vikash Chapparia. He allegedly purchased some “undisclosed” properties in Dubai and a majority shareholder in an FPI company in which Chapparia is also a shareholder, ED sources said.
The ED suspects that these assets were purchased using the “proceeds of crime” which were generated from the profits of Mahadev app.
According to the sources, Amit Agrawal is a relative of another accused in the case, Anil Kumar Agrawal.
What are the allegations?
Amit Agrawal is alleged to have received Mahadev app funds from Anil Kumar Agrawal and his (Amit Agrawal's) wife is said to have purchased many properties along with Anil Dammani, another accused in the case.
The ED had attached two Dubai-based immovable assets, a flat and a plot, worth Rs 99.46 crore belonging to Chhapparia and Anil Agrawal last year.
Earlier, the agency had said that the alleged illegal funds generated by the app were used to pay bribes to politicians and bureaucrats in the state.
Many celebrities and Bollywood actors were summoned for questioning by the agency on their links with the online betting platform and the mode of payment.
What happened in the case so far?
So far, the ED has filed two charge sheets in this case, including against the two main promoters of the alleged illegal betting and gaming app -- Sourabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal -- among others.
The two were recently detained in Dubai on the basis of an Interpol red notice issued at the behest of the ED and the agency is trying to have them deported or extradited from the UAE to India.
The Mahadev online betting app is an umbrella syndicate arranging online platforms for enabling illegal betting websites.
(With PTI inputs)
