MOB app case: ED seizes Demat account with shares worth ₹100 crore

ED conducted searches in multiple cities linked to money laundering investigation of Mahadev Online Book betting platform, seizing assets worth ₹572.41 crore.

MUMBAI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday carried out searches at 17 premises in Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh as part of a money laundering investigation linked to Mahadev Online Book (MOB) betting platform. During the searches, the ED froze certain Demat accounts comprising shares of around ₹100 crore and seized cash of ₹2 crore, agency sources said.

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The ED searches were conducted at the premises of the associates of a person, who allegedly is a key Dubai-based controller of the MOB and involved in managing the online platform’s activities, along with its two accused co-promoters, Sourabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal, agency sources said. As the searches were still underway, the agency did not disclose the identity of the key person under the scanner. This suspect is accused of diverting funds of around ₹800 crore allegedly generated through the online betting-gaming apps via hawala channels to deposit them into the bank accounts of entities controlled by him and located in tax haven countries, ED sources said.

The Dubai-based suspect subsequently allegedly brought the funds back into the country via the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI) routes, the sources said. The suspect also allegedly converted funds of ₹200 crore generated via online gaming apps into legitimate money through shell companies and hawala channels, agency sources said. The ED suspects that the earnings from the apps were allegedly invested to accumulate assets in India. The suspect also runs his online gaming-betting apps that are under the agency’s scanner.

The MOB is under the scanner of the agency’s money-laundering investigation for its alleged illegal online betting activities. The ED and several police units in Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and other states in India are investigating the MOB platform which runs approximately 60 sites and has 2000 panels or branches for illegal betting and money laundering. According to the ED, the two MOB promoters were making a profit of ₹30- ₹40 lakh per panel or branch every month until the crackdown.

The MOB app/platform is allegedly an umbrella syndicate arranging online platforms for enabling illegal betting websites to enrol new users, create user IDs and launder the proceeds through a layered web of benami bank accounts, ED’s probe found. The Mahadev Book was incorporated as “Mahadevbook Markets Limited” at Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in the Caribbean on June 21, 2021. The MOB franchisee model which started in 2019 across India, ran on an alleged 30:70 profit-sharing ratio with the Dubai-based Head Office (HO) controlled by the co-promoters. Nine accused have been arrested in the MOB case and two case chargesheets have been submitted to the Raipur court against 19 accused so far. The ED has so far seized/frozen assets worth ₹572.41 crore during searches.