Mahadev App Case: How A Rs 200-Cr Wedding in UAE Put the Betting App Under ED Scanner | EXPLAINED

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned several Bollywood celebrities including actor Ranbir Kapoor, Kapil Sharma and Hina Khan for questioning in connection with the Mahadev betting application money-laundering case. The three celebrities have been summoned and asked to appear at the Raipur office of the agency on Friday.

The ED will record their statement under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and try to understand the mode and flow of payment allegedly done to them by the app promoters.

Around 17 Bollywood celebrities and actors are under the ED’s scanner for receiving money from the promoters of the app for promoting their product.

WHAT IS MAHADEV APP?

The company promoted by Sourabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal was being operated from Dubai and was allegedly using the online book betting application to enrol new users, create IDs and launder money through a layered web of benami bank accounts, the ED has alleged.

The Mahadev App offered online platforms for alleged illegal betting in different live games including cricket, tennis, badminton, poker and card games.

The App was being run from a central head office in the UAE and was operated by franchising “Panel/Branches” to their known associates on a 70-30 profit ratio.

The ED said that large-scale hawala operations were done to siphon off the proceeds of betting to offshore accounts. The company allegedly gained around Rs 5,000 crore through the scam.

According to the probe agency, the Mahadev app is an umbrella syndicate arranging online platforms to aid illegal betting websites in enrolling new users and launder money through a layered web of benami bank accounts.

200-CR WEDDING THAT LED TO PROBE

Sourabh Chandrakar, who led a luxurious life in Dubai, married in Ras Al-Khaimah in February. It was his 200-crore wedding in the UAE that brought the Mahadev Online Book app into the crosshairs of probe agencies.

According to reports, private jets were hired to fly down family members, celebrities performed at the wedding functions and a Mumbai-based events firm handled the extravaganza. However, all of the payments for the wedding were paid for in cash, which alerted the ED.

Celebrities including Vishal Dadlani, Tiger Shroff, Sonakshi Sinha, Atif Aslam, Sunny Leone, Neha Kakkar, Ali Asgar, Bharti Singh, Bhagyashree, Pulkit Samrat, Elli Avram and Rahat Fateh Ali Khan performed at the lavish wedding.

“In February 2023, Sourabh Chandrakar got married at RAK, UAE, and for this marriage ceremony, the promoters of Mahadev APP spent around Rs 200 Crore in Cash,” the ED said in a statement dated September 15.

The ED added that the event management company received Rs 112 crore via hawala transactions and Rs 42 crore in cash in UAE currency was used to make hotel reservations.

WHAT DOES ED INVESTIGATION SAY?

The investigation that was prompted by the lavish wedding led investigators into the hawala operations and their connections in the UAE and Pakistan.

The ED raided the founders of the Mahadev Gambling App’s offices in many cities, including Kolkata, Bhopal, and Mumbai and seized assets worth crores.

The ED has clubbed at least seven FIRs filed by the victims of the scam who lost their money. The FIRs were filed across locations, including Goa, Mumbai, Visakhapatnam, Ahmedabad and Chhattisgarh.

The ED has also reportedly searched the premises of Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel’s political adviser and two Officers on Special Duty (OSDs). It has alleged that the “high ranking officials connected with the Chhattisgarh CMO received kickbacks to allow an illegal gaming app to run its operations in the state.