Australia sent back MOB promoters to UAE in view criminal cases against them

Australian authorities have denied entry to the promoters of the Mahadev Online Book (MOB) betting app platform, Sourabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal, on the grounds that they are wanted accused in an ongoing criminal probe in India, including a money laundering investigation by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The ED is investigating MOB and its promoters for alleged illegal online betting activities across India, with suspicions that earnings from the betting activities could be worth between INR 5,000 to INR 20,000 crore ($680 million to $2.7 billion). The Australian authorities' action is also said to be influenced by the ED's revelations that MOB has allegedly been running a betting app in Pakistan with the help of a Pakistani partner, and suspicions that the MOB network has acquired the protection of Pakistan-based organised criminal syndicates.

MUMBAI: Australian security authorities recently denied entry and sent back Mahadev Online Book (MOB) betting app platform promoters Sourabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal to United Arab Emirates (UAE), on grounds of their status as wanted accused in ongoing criminal probe against them in India, including a money laundering probe by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

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The Australian authorities are learnt to have allegedly asked the promoters to return to UAE, from where they had arrived in Australia for sightseeing and exploring potential for their business, citing ED’s ongoing probe against them and the probes by the Chhattisgarh police and the Andhra Pradesh police since last year, agency sources said.

The ED is investigating the MOB and its promoters for their alleged conduct of online betting illegally across India, based on multiple probes, on charges, including those related to cheating, by the Chhattisgarh police and the Andhra Pradesh police.

It is suspected that MOB’s earnings from its betting activities in online mode could have raked in earnings worth between ₹5,000 to ₹20,000 crore over the last few years, sources said. Chandrakar and Uppal are based in Dubai. The Australian authorities’ action is also likely to have also been influenced by the ED’s probe’s revelations that MOB has been allegedly running a betting app in Pakistan with the help of a Pakistani partner. Suspicions are also being verified on whether the MOB network has acquired the protection of Pakistan-based organised criminal syndicate/s, including the one led by a fugitive gangster from India, the sources said.

Apart from Uppal and Chandrakar, there were a few others with them on the proposed sightseeing trip including the latter’s wife, and they all had to return to UAE from an Australian city’s airport itself, a source said who declined to comment further due to the ongoing nature of the probe. After the group, led by the two MOB promoters had arrived at an Australian airport, local security officials had conducted a check of their travel documents. They gathered information about their alleged involvement in ongoing probes in India and sent them back, the sources said.

The Australian authorities’ action is significant considering there is currently no Interpol - issued Red Corner Notices (RCN), which warrants the detention globally of Subjects named in such alerts by the 195-member countries of the global police organisation, against Chandrakar and Uppal, sources said. RCNs are issued for fugitives wanted either for prosecution or to serve a sentence and it is a request to law enforcement agencies worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender, or similar legal action.

ED recently conducted searches against the money laundering networks linked to MOB apps in cities like Kolkata, Bhopal, and Mumbai, among others and retrieved documents and froze/seized proceeds of crime worth ₹417 crore. ED initiated its investigation last year based on the cases registered by the Chhattisgarh police and Andhra Pradesh’s Visakhapatnam police and in other states. In August, ED arrested four persons including an assistant sub-inspector (ASI), a liaison agent and two hawala operators in Chhattisgarh. It was alleged that bribes were paid to senior government functionaries as ‘protection money’ in that state.

ED has also taken up the investigation of the overseas angles in the case. There are lookout circulars against Chndrakar and Uppal at the country entry/exit points and a Special Raipur court has also issued Non-Bailable Warrants against absconding suspects in the MOB case, sources said.

The MOB allegedly provides online modes for illegal betting in different live games, including poker, card games, chance games and betting on cricket, badminton, tennis, football, and even elections, among others. All the games are allegedly rigged in such a manner that the overall branch owners of the app do not lose money, while despite initial profits, the users lose money. The MOB management allegedly kept nearly 70% of the profit of the panel operations.

Around 17 celebrities, including noted Bollywood actors, singers and comedians, are under the scanner of the ED for having attended the lavish wedding of Chandrakar in Dubai in February and a few of them might be called in for their witness testimonies. The MOB promoter allegedly spent ₹200 crore of proceeds of crime on the wedding and the ED is trying to trace the money trail to establish the end-beneficiaries. The agency’s scanner is also on certain celebrities who had been paid by MOB to attend a party at a seven-star luxury hotel in Dubai scheduled for September 18 this year.