ED summons actor Ranbir Kapoor in Mahadev online betting app case
ED summons actor Ranbir Kapoor in Mahadev online betting app case
Kapoor has received payments for carrying out promotional activities for the platform, which has allegedly conducted large-scale hawala operations.
The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday summoned actor Ranbir Kapoor in connection with the Mahadev online betting app case. He has been directed to be present in front of the probe agency on October 10.
Ranbir has been a social media influencer for the online betting platform and has reportedly received payments for carrying out promotional activities for the app.
Many top celebrities including Bollywood actors, singers and comedians, are under the scanner of the probe agency for participating in the lavish wedding of Sourabh Chandrakar, the co-promoter of the online betting app, in Dubai.
As per agency sources some of the celebrities are likely to be summoned as witnesses in the money laundering case against the platform.
The central investigating agency carried out searches in several cities including Kolkata, Bhopal, Mumbai in relation to the alleged money laundering networks connected with the Mahadev Online Book App, a betting platform headquartered in the UAE.
According to the case, large scale hawala operations are allegedly being done using the platform to siphon off proceeds of betting to off-shore accounts.
ED sources reveal that Chandrakar and MOB platform’s other promoter Ravi Uppal have created an empire for themselves in the UAE. The sudden and illegal riches are being openly flaunted by them. .
The promoter of the platform allegedly spent ₹200 crore on the wedding and the agency is trying to trace the money trail to establish the end-beneficiaries, according to sources.
As per the investigation it is learnt that the celebrities who performed in the wedding were paid a hefty sum of fees through dubious transactions. The stars were reportedly paid ₹40 crore by the promoters of the betting platform to attend a party at a seven-star luxury hotel in Dubai scheduled for September 18 this year.
The sources further added that private jets were hired to ferry family members of the wedding party from Nagpur to UAE, celebrities were hired to perform in the marriage and wedding planners, dancers, decorators, etc, were hired from Mumbai and hawala channels were used to make the payments in cash.
In their recent searches related to the money laundering activities by the platform, ED froze or seized assets worth ₹417 crore. Kolkata-based Vikash Chhaparia was responsible for handling all the hawala-related operations for the betting platform. He was into heavy investments in India’s stock market using the foreign portfolio investment route with the help of his associates Govind Kedia.
Cash derivative and other security holdings worth ₹236.3 crore in the name of entities beneficially owned by Chhaparia have been frozen by ED. Kedia’s ₹160 crore worth of assets in DEMAT holdings have also been frozen.
News Edit K.V.Raman
