Yuvraj Robin Sonu summoned in Betting Apps Case

Yuvraj Robin Sonu summoned in Betting Apps Case

Probe Agency has summoned cricketers Yuvraj Singh and Robin Uthappa, and actor Sonu Sood Summoned in Betting Apps Case.

According ED’s claim, platforms like 1xBet and its avatars – 1xBat, for example – claim to host skill-based games, but used rigged algorithms that make them a gambling enterprise under existing Indian laws.

All three have been summoned by the Enforcement Directorate next week; Robin Uthappa was on Monday, Yuvraj Singh on Tuesday, and Sonu Sood on Wednesday.

They join two other ex- cricketers, Shikhar Dhawan and Suresh Raina, as well as actor Urvashi Rautela and Trinamool MP Mimi Chakraborty, in being questioned by the ED as it investigates money-laundering and tax evasion by the 1xBet app, which advertised frequently amidst live screening of cricket matches.

In fact, the ED is probing multiple betting platforms and the role of celebrities in promoting, consciously or otherwise, schemes the government said have defrauded users and investors of crores.

Urvashi Rautela, whom reports have called 1xBet’s ‘India ambassador’ appeared
on Tuesday, as is Bengali actor Ankush Hazra. On Monday the agency recorded Ms Chakraborty’s statement.

Last week Shikar Dhawan was grilled for over eight hours at the ED’s Delhi office and left only after his statement was recorded under the stringent Preventoin of Money Laundering Act, or PMLA.

In early-August Raina was also questioned. The ED asked the former cricketer over his role in the promotion of 1xBet and the details of monetary transactions, including any fees he was paid or charged.

And in June another former cricketer, Harbhajan Singh was also questioned.
As per sources, a common thread in questions to celebrities is if they knew, or had been made aware, that betting apps like 1xBet – frequently re-labelled to avoid being shut down – are illegal under Indian law.

The argument is that platforms like 1xBet and its avatars – 1xBat, for example – claim to host skill-based games, but used rigged algorithms that make them a gambling enterprise under existing Indian laws.

News Edit KV Raman