Online betting, gambling: ED freezes over 760 'mule' bank accounts, arrests two

New Delhi, Jun 6 (PTI) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has frozen 766 "mule" bank accounts and over a dozen credit and debit cards besides arresting two persons as part of a money laundering investigation against a racket that conducted illegal betting in IPL and T20 cricket world cup matches apart from gambling, the agency said.

A mule bank account is used to launder illicit funds by criminals or fraudsters without the consent or knowledge of the real account holder.

The federal probe agency said in a statement issued on Thursday that the action was taken under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) while it carried out searches at various premises in West Bengal, Delhi, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Assam.

The money laundering case stems from an FIR registered by the West Bengal Police in Siliguri under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the West Bengal Gambling and Prize Competitions Act, 1957.

The modus operandi deployed by the accused includes opening of "mule" bank accounts (saving, current and corporate) by recruiting people to act as "money mules" in exchange for money paid either as a one-time basis or on a recurring monthly basis, depending on the nature and utility of the account, the ED said.

The agency said these bank accounts were "specifically" intended for the collection and subsequent layering of proceeds generated through illegal online betting and gambling activities being run through some websites and channels of the online communication platform Telegram.

"These mule account holders had no control or access to the accounts. The scamsters induced people to contact through WhatsApp numbers for betting and gambling in different games like IPL (Indian Premier League related to T20 cricket), ISL (Indian Super League linked to football), T20 World Cup, online rummy, online casino, etc.," the ED said.

Seven hundred sixty-six mule bank accounts and 17 debit or credit cards linked to the activities connected with proceeds of crime have been frozen and two persons, Vishal Bhardwaj alias Badal Bhardwaj and Sonu Kr Thakur, have been arrested, the ED said.

The agency said the two persons were also charge-sheeted by the West Bengal Police in their charge-sheet filed in the case earlier but they were shown as "absconders". PTI NES KSS KSS