Mahadev app case: ED attaches fresh assets including Dubai property of main promoter Ravi Uppal

New Delhi, Jan 13 (PTI) The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday said it has attached fresh assets worth a combined about Rs 21 crore of various accused including Ravi Uppal, one of the main absconding promoters of the "illegal" Mahadev online betting app, in which various high-ranking politicians and bureaucrats from Chhattisgarh are allegedly involved A provisional order has been issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on January 10.

Last week, the ED issued a similar order to attach the properties of Saurabh Chandrakar, another main promoter of the app named Mahadev Online Book (MOB), and some others.

The agency said in a statement that under the latest order, a Rs 6.75 crore worth property of Uppal located in Atria Ra, Dubai has been attached. The others who face the similar action include Rajat Kumar Singh, a "close associate" of Chandrakar.

The ED said he earned about Rs 15-20 crore from various panels of the app and his assets located in Bhilai (Chhattisgarh) and Dubai have been attached.

Assets of Saurabh Ahuja and Vishal Ramani, Vinay Kumar, Honey Singh, Lucky Goyal and Raja Gupta, based in India, have also been attached, it said.

The total value of the attachment is Rs 21.45 crore, as per the ED.

The Mahadev app was promoted by Chandrakar and Uppal, both of whom hail from Chhattisgarh.

India is pursuing their extradition. While the last known location of Chandrakar was in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Uppal is stated to have fled to Vanuatu from the UAE.

It is alleged that Chandrakar and others "cheated" the public through the Mahadev app that was created to facilitate multiple illegal betting websites or mobile applications to acquire customers and take care of the financial operations for these illegal betting games and websites.

In the process, the websites were "rigged" in such a manner that all the customers would ultimately lose money, the ED has said.

The funds generated through illegal betting platforms were transferred outside India through hawala channels, trade-based money-laundering transactions and the use of crypto assets and subsequently, routed back and invested in the Indian stock market in the name of foreign portfolio investments (FPIs).

"Investigation deciphered that the promoters kept 70-75 per cent of the total profits generated by the (betting) panels while the remaining was kept by the panel operators," the agency said.

The ED has so far filed five chargesheets in the case, arrested 13 people and seized and attached assets worth Rs 2,621 crore.

The agency had earlier said its probe in the Mahadev gaming and betting app case has shown the involvement of various high-ranking politicians and bureaucrats from Chhattisgarh.

It had said the MOB app is an umbrella syndicate arranging online platforms for enabling illegal betting websites to enrol new users, create user IDs and laundering money through a layered web of "benami" bank accounts. PTI NES KVK KVK