‘Mahadev Betting App Proceeds Exceed Rs 92,000 cr,’ says ED

Raipur: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) told a court in Raipur that the Mahadev online betting app’s illegal operations and related money laundering activities were still ongoing, and that the proceeds of crime were estimated at more than Rs 92,000 crore.

The central agency on Friday, November 13, sought seven-day custody of the alleged kingpin of the racket, Sourabh Chandrakar, from the special court for Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) cases.

His interrogation was necessary to unravel the money trail, identify the end use of the proceeds of crime and ascertain details of “betting panels” that are still operational, the ED said.

The court remanded Chandrakar to the ED’s custody till November 19.

The ED said the revised proceeds of crime generated through the Mahadev Online Book application were estimated at Rs 75,000-80,000 crore, while those linked to its sister website Skyexchange.com stood at Rs 11,000-12,000 crore. The proceeds of crime linked to Lotus365.com were around Rs 2,400 crore, the agency claimed.

The total proceeds of crime were initially estimated at around Rs 10,000-11,000 crore, but they increased substantially as the illegal operations continued even after the filing of the main prosecution complaint on October 20, 2023, the ED said.

Co-accused Rajat Kumar Singh had disclosed that the Mahadev Online Book application is still operational, and that he was running around eight to 10 panels from Dubai. Another associate, Vishal Ramani, had also confirmed the continuation of the app’s operations and admitted to running around 35 panels from Dubai, the agency said.

The ED also referred to its fifth supplementary prosecution complaint filed on September 10 this year which stated that Chandrakar was still running the illegal operations.

Describing Chandrakar as the kingpin of the betting syndicate, the agency said his custodial interrogation is necessary to establish the complete money trail, trace the utilisation of the proceeds of crime and identify the people involved in the network.

Chandrakar was extradited from Oman earlier this month and arrested by the CBI in a related case.

He and other promoters of the betting app allegedly operated the syndicate from Dubai. According to the ED, Chandrakar had left India in 2022 to evade arrest.

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