Maharashtra Police cyber cell is questioning rapper Badshah in Mumbai regarding his involvement with the FairPlay online betting app. It's been reported that, alongside the rapper, 40 other celebrities had allegedly promoted the app.
Badshah's alleged association with an online betting app has come to light, just a week after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) filed its first chargesheet in connection with its money laundering investigation into the Mahadev betting app case that surfaced in Chhattisgarh recently.
ED's investigation into Mahadev Betting App case
The ED earlier said its investigation has revealed Mahadev Book is run from a central head office in the UAE. Masterminds of the Mahadev money laundering scheme - Sourabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal, who hail from Bhilai in Chhattisgarh, are estimated to have made Rs 200 crore per day.
The ED is investigating the money laundering operations of the Mahadev Online Book app, which may be to the tune of Rs 5,000 crore. The ED has far frozen and seized assets worth Rs 417 crore in connection with the Mahadev online betting case.
In the first week of October, the ED summoned Ranbir Kapoor in connection with the Mahadev betting app money laundering case for allegedly received money from the app’s promoters to perform at the lavish UAE wedding of one of the two promoters. It was Chandrakar’s Rs 200 crore wedding in the UAE that first put the spotlight on the racket. Several Bollywood celebrities are under the ED’s scanner for performing at the wedding or promoting the app.
What’s the Mahadev betting app case about?
The company promoted by Sourabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal operated from Dubai, allegedly used the online book betting application to enrol new users, create user IDs and launder money through a layered web of benami bank accounts, officials said. The two promoters set up a network of some 4,000 to 5,000 panel operators spread across Chattisgarh, Mumbai and Delhi.. The panel operator would guide a person into opening an account on the app, placing bets, and receiving money.
The Mahadev online book betting application is an umbrella syndicate arranging online platforms for enabling illegal betting websites. It operates by franchising "Panel/Branches" to their known associates on a 70-30 profit ratio, the ED had said. According to ED, large-scale hawala operations were carried out to siphon off the proceeds of betting to offshore accounts.
The ED investigation revealed that ads promoting Mahadev betting app would contain a WhatsApp number. Users who dialled the number or sent a message would have their call routed to a call centre.
There, a call centre employee would forward the user’s personal details to a panel operator. The panel operator would guide the person into opening an account on the app, placing bets, and receiving money. The Mahadev app founders, Sourabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal, and the panel operators would share the profit at a ratio of 70:30.
The ED investigation revealed that the founders are running 4 to 5 similar apps in India and one such app in Pakistan.
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