The Enforcement Directorate on Friday raided properties linked to the Mahadev betting app and recovered assets worth Rs 417 crore. The reportedly illegal application is run by a man named Saurabh Chandrakar who allegedly spent Rs 200 crore on his wedding in Dubai. He had brought his relatives from Nagpur and film stars via private jets.
He is a native of Chhattisgarh's Bhilai. He lives in Dubai and runs an online betting racket. He has also invested a party of his betting wealth in the Indian stock markets through the FPI route. He and his partner Ravi Uppal are promoters in the application.
He got married in UAE's sixth biggest city. He had paid Rs 120 crore to his wedding planner. He sent private jets to India for his relatives. Several Bollywood celebrities performed for him at the wedding. These payments were made through cash using Hawala channels, reported NBT.
Rs 112 crore were handed over to Yogesh Bhapat's event management company, R-1 Events Private Limited. Rs 42 crore were paid for hotel bookings.
ED raided 39 offices of the betting syndicate in many cities including Raipur, Bhopal, Kolkata and Mumbai. The agency has arrested 15 people in connection with the case.
ED says Mahadev online book betting app is an umbrella syndicate. This helps illegal betting websites to create new users, create user IDs and misappropriate funds. The agency says that this network has been detected in raids on event managers, travel agents and hawala traders.
Bhopal-based company Rapid Travels had allegedly arranged tickets to send Chandrakar's relatives and celebrities to Dubai, while the illegal cash transactions were done through Vikas Chappariya of Kolkata.
Mahadev App Promoters' colleagues also helped in this.
