The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached assets worth Rs 11.14 crore linked to former Indian cricketers Suresh Raina and Shikhar Dhawan for allegedly promoting a banned betting application, which used 6,000 mule accounts to launder of over Rs 1,000 crore.The attachment includes mutual fund investments worth Rs 6.64 cr belonging to Raina and Dhawan’s
property valued at Rs 4.5 crore. The investigation has revealed that 1xBet and its surrogate brand 1xBat, 1xbat Sporting lines were engaged in promoting and facilitating illegal online betting and gambling operations across India. The ED’s probe has found that the former cricketers “knowingly” entered into endorsement agreements with foreign entities for the promotion of 1xBet and its surrogates.
The agency had initiated probe against the operators of 1xBet based on multiple FIRs registered by various State police agencies. During investigation, the agency said, it found that 1xBet operated in India without authorisation and used surrogate branding and advertisements to target Indian users through social media, online videos, and print media. Payments for endorsements were structured through layered transactions using foreign intermediaries to disguise the illegal source of funds.
Amounts collected from users in were routed through multiple payment gateways to disguise their origin. Investigations revealed that merchants were on-boarded on these gateways without any KYC.
On verification of profiles of these merchants, it was seen that the entity’s declared business activities did not match their transaction patterns, indicating laundering of funds exceeding Rs 1000 crore.
“Over 60 bank accounts linked to these payment gateways have been frozen. Amount of over 4 crores have been frozen so far. Further investigation is in progress,” said the agency.
The agency issued advisory stating that public should exercise utmost caution and refrain from engaging in, promoting, or investing money through online betting or gambling platforms.
