The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday summoned Bollywood actor Ranbir Kapoor for questioning on October 6 in Chhattisgarh Mahadev betting app money laundering case.
According to sources Ranbir Kapoor had allegedly carried out promotional activities for the Mahadev betting app. In this case, ED also suspects several other A lister celebrities, and certain sports personalities who promoted the app, according to ET.
Several top-notch celebrities including Bollywood actors, singers and comedians, are under the scanner of the probe agency for participating in the lavish wedding of Sourabh Chandrakar, the co-promoter of the online betting app, in Dubai. Some of these include Tiger Shroff, Sunny Leone, Neha Kakkar, Atif Aslam, and Rahat Fateh Ali Khan.
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The promoter of the platform allegedly spent Rs 200 crore on the wedding and the agency is trying to trace the money trail to establish the end-beneficiaries, according to sources.
Mahadev online betting app is an umbrella syndicate arranging online platforms for enabling illegal betting websites to enrol new users, create user IDs and laundering of money through a layered web of benami bank accounts, the ED said in a statement.
In September, the ED carried out searches against the money laundering networks tied to the Mahadev app in cities such as Kolkata, Bhopal, and Mumbai.
During the operation, incriminating evidence was found, and proceeds of crime amounting to Rs 417 crore were seized.
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Prior to this, the ED had conducted searches and arrested four individuals, including the chief liaison officer of a betting syndicate. This group was found to be paying bribes to senior government officials under the guise of "protection money."
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