ED busts multi-crore World Cup betting scam; nabs two bookies

Enforcement Directorate (ED) has busted a multi-crore international cricket World Cup betting racket and arrested two bookies from a farmhouse on the outskirts of Vadodara city, official sources said here today.

"An ED team nabbed two bookies named Kiran Mala and Tommy Patel, while they were accepting bets on today's cricket World Cup match between Indian and Bangladesh from a farmhouse on the outskirts of Vadodara city," a senior official of the probe agency told PTI.

According to primary investigation, the duo had a Rs 20-crore betting "turnover" during each World Cup match, the official said.

Allegedly, the duo had accepted bets on around 45 World Cup matches so far and hence the betting amount is likely to reach upto Rs 900 crore, the official said.

As per primary investigations, the racket had links with hawala operators in Dubai, the ED official said, adding that the exact figure of the betting racket could be ascertained only after further investigation.

Tommy Patel, one of the two who were arrested earlier, was accused of involving in the IPL spot fixing case and was arrested in the year 2013, ED officials said.

During the raids, the ED team also seized 15 laptops and 100 cellphones along with other electronic devices.

Both Mala and Patel were based in Paldi area of the city, but kept changing their base every four days to avoid legal trouble, the official said.

The ED has registered a case under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) and search operations are still on, the official said.