In connection to the Mahadev betting app case, both accused on Tuesday were sent to 13-day judicial custody. The two accused have been identified as Nitin Tibrewal and Amit Agrawal. During the interrogation, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) also obtained crucial information. Meanwhile, the next hearing for this case is scheduled for February 3.
The duo were arrested by the ED on January 13 in connection with the Mahadev online betting and gaming app case. Tibrewal, a resident of Kolkata, and Raipur-based Agrawal were taken into custody under various sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and produced before a special court in Chhatisgar's Raipur.
The duo was in ED custody till Jan 17
The court had sent them to ED custody till January 17. Tibrewal is the majority shareholder of Techpro IT Solutions Ltd, a company that was acting as a "front" for Mahadev Online Book (Mahadev app) and investing the proceeds of crime generated out of illegal operations in India by way of foreign portfolio investment, the ED said in a statement.
He tried to conceal this fact despite multiple opportunities granted to him. He also did not reveal his foreign bank accounts and assets before the ED which have been discovered during the course of investigations," the statement said.
Thus, Tibrewal was found to be knowingly assisting in layering the proceeds of crime by investing it in his name and through associated Indian and foreign entities, it said.
Amit Agrawal is the brother of accused Anil Kumar Agrawal, who is also a partner in the Mahadev app. "Amit Agrawal knowingly utilised the proceeds of crime emanating out of Mahadev Online Book in purchasing assets in his and his wife's name. To fund these purchases, he arranged entries totalling Rs 2.5 crore in his and his wife's bank accounts against cash," the ED said.
The agency said in the statements recorded before it, Amit Agrawal maintained these bank entries are loans, however, the entry operator (hawala operator) involved in the transactions revealed the truth.
Ex-Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel named in case
Meanwhile, the ED also named former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel in a supplementary chargesheet filed on January 1, 2024. The chargesheet is related to allegations of receiving bribes amounting to about Rs 508 crore from the promoters of the Mahadev App.
"In the first supplementary prosecution complaint that we have presented, we have written about Shubham Soni and the email that Shubham Soni sent us was a certified email. In that email, he wrote about the former Chief Minister. It was said that Rs 508 crores have been used in the form of documents which we have presented," Enforcement Directorate lawyer Saurabh Pandey said.
What is Mahadev betting app case?
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 for their alleged links with the online betting platform and the mode of payment.
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 ED alleged in the first charge sheet that Chandrakar got married at Ras Al Khaimah, UAE, in February 2023 and about Rs 200 crore "in cash" was spent for this event.
(With PTI inputs)
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