The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed the first charge sheet in connection with the ongoing money laundering investigation in the recently reported Mahadev Betting App case in Chhattisgarh. In its charge sheet of about 9000 pages, ED has named 14 people including Saurabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal, the main promoters of Mahadev Book App. According to sources, the estimated income of the alleged crime in this case is around Rs 6,000 crore.
According to the officials, in the charge sheet, Saurabh Chandrakar, Ravi Uppal, Vikas Chappariya, Chandrabhushan Verma, Satish Chandrakar, Anil Dammani, Sunil Dammani, Vishal Ahuja, Dheeraj Ahuja, creation associate Punaram Verma, Shiv Kumar Verma, Punaram Verma Shiv Kumar Verma, Yashoda Verma And names of 14 accused including Pawan Nathani are included.
The ED statement said, “ED has filed charge sheet in the Mahadev App case in the Special Money Laundering Prevention Act (PMLA) Court, Raipur on October 20, 2023. The next hearing on the prosecution complaint is fixed for November 25, 2023.” The statement further said that no celebrity has been accused in the prosecution complaint.
Recently, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel had reportedly questioned the Center by asking whether the government accepted election money for not banning betting apps.
In Raipur on Friday, the CM said, “The central government has the right to ban betting apps, not the state government. My allegation is that if the BJP-led central government is not banning the app, then have you decided to ban the betting app?” Funds have been accepted for this.”
Mahadev Online Book Betting App is a big syndicate that provides online platform to illegal betting websites to enable them to enroll new users, create user IDs and launder money through anonymous bank accounts.
The ED had released details of its investigation in the online money laundering case related to Mahadev online book betting app in mid-September this year. The agency had said that wedding planners, dancers, decorators etc. were hired from Mumbai and hawala channels were used to make cash payments.
The agency said Saurabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal, residents of Bhilai, Chhattisgarh, are the two main promoters of the Mahadev betting platform and run their operations from Dubai. He had created an empire for himself in that country.
The agency had recently raided 39 locations in Raipur, Bhopal, Mumbai and Kolkata and seized illegal assets worth Rs 417 crore. ED has started serious investigation abroad also. Raipur’s PMLA court has also issued non-bailable warrants against the suspects.
The ED, which is probing money laundering allegations in connection with Mahadev online book app, had last month conducted raids in Chhattisgarh and arrested four accused, including a main lieutenant, in connection with the case with links to a betting syndicate. The investigating agency alleged that he was a senior They were trying to bribe government officials in the form of ‘protection money’.
The ED had said that it has successfully identified other key players involved in the money laundering operation of the app. The main part of the charge sheet runs into 197 pages, while about 8,800 more pages have been added in the annexures. However, Saurabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal had denied any wrongdoing.
