ED probing MOB’s links with Dawood’s brother

The agency suspects that the Dubai-based MOB promoters, Sourabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal, had tied up with the fugitive gangsters’ brother to run one of its betting/gaming apps from Pakistan

MUMBAI The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is probing suspected ties between promoters of Mahadev Online Book (MOB) platform and Mustaqim, one of the three brothers of fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim.

ED’s investigation has revealed that the MOB runs 60-odd betting and gaming apps and sites online illegally. One of the apps ‘Kheloyar’ is allegedly running in Pakistan with the help of a Pakistan-based partner and it is suspected that the platform has the patronage of the organised crime syndicate based in Pakistan, agency sources said (HT PHOTO)

The agency suspects that the Dubai-based MOB promoters, Sourabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal, had tied up with the fugitive gangsters’ brother to run one of its betting/gaming apps from Pakistan.

ED’s investigation has revealed that the MOB runs 60-odd betting and gaming apps and sites online illegally. One of the apps ‘Kheloyar’ is allegedly running in Pakistan with the help of a Pakistan-based partner and it is suspected that the platform has the patronage of the organised crime syndicate based in Pakistan, agency sources said. Mustaqim was suspected of staying in Dubai on a resident visa procured on an alleged Pakistani passport issued in 1997. Mustaqim has no criminal case registered against him in India and had exited India years ago, sources said.

The ‘Kheloyar’ app was recently under the scanner for its alleged association with a T-20 cricket tournament held in Sri Lanka earlier this year, the sources said. Dawood, the mastermind of the March 1993 Mumbai serial blasts, is suspected to have exited India in the early 1980s after his alleged criminal activities came under the scanner of police in Maharashtra. He is believed to be living in Pakistan.

As part of its money laundering investigation, the ED has also taken under its scanner a group of 34 celebrities, including actors from Bollywood and the southern film industry, who allegedly attended the September 2022 ‘success party’ of the MOB betting app in Dubai. Also on the agency’s radar are celebrities who had been allegedly invited by MOB to attend Chandrakar’s wedding in Dubai in February and those who are accused of endorsing it on social media. The MOB allegedly spent ₹200 crore on the February wedding.

ED is also investigating the role of a few sports personalities, including three foreign cricketers, for their endorsement of the MOB platform. These celebrities are under ED’s scanner as the payments they have received may be considered as proceeds of crime generated through alleged illegal betting on the MOB platform.

In August, ED arrested four persons, including an assistant sub-inspector and two hawala operators, in Chhattisgarh. The agency had initiated its investigation based on the cases registered by the Chhattisgarh police and the Visakhapatnam police.

The MOB platform’s betting/gaming apps and sites are configured in such a way that those placing a bet can never win over 60% of the money they have invested. The remaining 40% of the bet goes to MOB’s Dubai-based headquarters, controlled by its two promoters. Of this 40%, they share 30% with their franchise owners in India, sources claimed.

ED’s investigation has revealed that MOB operates call centers in Nepal, Sri Lanka and the United Arab Emirates to handle WhatsApp-only calls from prospective users of its apps and websites. MOB is not registered in India, and it is suspected that it is not registered in the UAE either. The agency’s probe has also revealed that MOB has up to 4,000 panels or franchises across India, with the biggest concentration in Mumbai, Delhi and Chhattisgarh. ED also suspects that MOB could have raked in allegedly up to ₹20,000 crore in the last few years through its illegal online betting/gaming activities. The MOB allegedly earns ₹200 crore daily via its illegal betting activities.

“Chandrakar and MOB platform’s other promoter Ravi Uppal have created an empire for themselves in the UAE. The sudden and illegal riches are being openly flaunted by them,” the source said.

ED recently conducted searches against the money laundering networks linked to MOB app in cities like Kolkata, Bhopal, Mumbai, among others and retrieved documents and froze / seized proceeds of crime worth ₹417 crore.