Fairplay enticed users with 300% cashback: ED

The ED has accused the online platform of engaging in unlawful betting, unauthorised broadcasting of cricket matches and money-laundering activities

Mumbai: The Fairplay online platform encouraged users to deposit large amounts in their e-wallets by offering high cashback incentives, the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) money laundering probe has found. Funds were collected through payment gateways and credited to users’ e-wallets for illegal online betting on cricket matches, elections and other events; a part of the proceeds were also likely diverted and later reinvested under the guise of legitimate business, agency sources said.

Fairplay enticed users with 300% cashback: ED

“We are probing if cryptocurrency wallets were used in addition to payment gateways to collect funds from users,” an ED official told Hindustan Times.

The agency initiated the money laundering investigation against the Dubai-based Fairplay Sport LLC based on a first information report (FIR) registered by the state cyber cell in April 2023. According to the FIR, the Fairplay platform and some other applications were involved in the illegal broadcast of and betting on cricket matches in 2023 and the Lok Sabha poll results in 2024.

The ED has accused the online platform of engaging in unlawful betting, unauthorised broadcasting of cricket matches and money-laundering activities. It did not have any registration to conduct business in India and used bogus/dummy bank accounts for fund collection, the ED has alleged.

Upon downloading or accessing the Fairplay app or associated websites, users received cashback offers ranging from 100-300% on deposits in the Fairplay wallet, the agency told a special court on Thursday while seeking remand of brothers Chirag Shah and Chintan Shah. The duo supervised the betting platform’s technological aspects and assisted in its operations, the ED told the court.

“The two brothers’ responsibilities included updating and rotating bank accounts linked to Fairplay, managing WhatsApp and Telegram transactions, overseeing fund collection, maintaining daily user activity records, and enabling expansion while evading regulatory scrutiny,” said the officer quoted earlier.

On Thursday, the defence told the court that the Bombay high court had quashed the offence registered by the cyber cell, based on which the ED had initiated its probe; if so, the agency’s case would not be maintainable. Since the high court order was yet to be uploaded on Thursday, the court remanded the duo in ED’s custody till February 18.