ED attaches assets worth ₹219.66 crore in probe against Fairplay, other betting apps

ED has attached assets worth ₹219.66 crore in a money laundering probe into mobile apps, including Fairplay, linked to illegal cricket broadcasting and betting.

MUMBAI: The Enforcement Directorate’s Mumbai zonal office has provisionally attached assets worth ₹219.66 crore as part of its money laundering investigation into a few mobile apps, including Fairplay, which were allegedly involved in the illegal broadcasting of cricket matches and online betting activities.

ED attaches assets worth ₹219.66 crore in probe against Fairplay, other betting apps

The attached assets are in the form of Demat account holdings and immovable assets, including plots of land, flats, and a commercial warehouse. The assets are located across several cities, including Mumbai, Thane, Kutch, Daman and Ajmer, according to ED officials.

The agency initiated the investigation under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) based on an April 2023 case registered by Maharashtra cyber police against Dubai-based Fairplay Sport LLC and others. The case is based on Viacom18 Media Pvt Ltd’s complaint that the accused entities had caused it a revenue loss of around ₹100 crore. The Reliance Industries-backed broadcaster owns the rights to the Indian cricket team’s home matches and the digital rights of the Indian Premier League, among others.

The ED’s investigation revealed that a businessman identified as K Shah, who is allegedly the key person behind Fairplay, registered various companies in Curacao, Malta and Dubai, which are tax havens, for Fairplay’s operations. The companies registered include Play Ventures NV, Dutch Antilles Management NV, Fair Play Sport LLC, Fairplay Management DMCC, and Play Ventures Holding Limited.

The probe further revealed that Shah and his suspected associates are primarily responsible for operating Fairplay from Dubai. The associates include S Iyer, who looks after the app’s financial aspects, and Chirag S and Chintan S, who are in charge of tech and software development. Shah and his associates allegedly acquired multiple movable and immovable assets from the proceeds of crime, either in their own or their relatives’ names, according to the agency.

The ED has conducted multiple searches in the case this year and seized or frozen various movable assets, documents and digital devices. The total attachments and seizures in the case to date are worth ₹331.16 crore.