MOB case: Promoters investing illegal earnings abroad, states chargesheet

The promoters are buying assets in destinations, including the United Arab Emirates, London, Sri Lanka and Australia, whose details the ED probe is trying to gather as part of its probe, sources said, adding that the duo manage the MOB operations from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, which is referred to as the ‘Head Office’ in their circles and take 70% of the earnings from betting activities

Mumbai: The promoters of Mahadev Online Book (MOB), Sourabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal, are investing their illegal earnings abroad to protect themselves and preferring pure hawala routes to get their share from panel operators, states the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) chargesheet in connection with the ongoing money-laundering probe against the duo.

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The promoters are buying assets in destinations, including the United Arab Emirates, London, Sri Lanka and Australia, whose details the ED probe is trying to gather as part of its probe, sources said, adding that the duo manage the MOB operations from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, which is referred to as the ‘Head Office’ in their circles and take 70% of the earnings from betting activities.

“Earlier, the panel operators were getting instructions from the Head Office of Uppal and Chandrakar to remit the ‘share’ of the main accused promoters to further layers of bank accounts from where it was being sent abroad by professional suspect hawala operators. But now, after recent actions by ED, the money share of Ravi Uppal and Sourabh Chandrakar is being sent using pure hawala routes,” states the chargesheet. “It is estimated that they are earning thousands of crores of proceeds of crime, collectively from around 3,000 active panels.”

The total profits of the panel operators and the promoters are being quantified by the agency. The ED has estimated that the promoters were allegedly earning around ₹30- ₹40 lakh per panel every month.

Chandrakar and Uppal are among the 14 accused named in the agency’s first chargesheet which was submitted before a special PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) court in Raipur in Chhattisgarh on Friday. The proceeds of crime so far were allegedly utilised in investing in India and abroad, bribing bureaucrats/politicians and purchasing of properties by the betting syndicate members in their name/the name of their family members. So far, during its multiple searches in the case, the ED has seized/frozen assets like cash, jewellery and security holdings valued at ₹567.02 crores.

Despite summonses by the ED, Chandrakar’s brother, Gitesh, and Ravi Uppal’s brothers, Rohit and Rahul, allegedly did not appear before it. ED suspects that these three relatives had left India to avoid the probes. Rohit’s wife, who was once detained against a pending Lookout circular, and Rahul’s wife, had allegedly pleaded ignorance before the ED when asked about the assets. ED’s search at Sourabh’s in-laws’ residence had yielded no record of assets as well. ED has also sent Letters Rogatory or formal requests abroad to gather information on the proceeds of crime generated by the two accused promoters, according to the chargesheet.

An event organiser, who runs two firms engaged in wedding planning and event management, in his statement to the ED said that it was allegedly his assignment to organise Chandrakar’s lavish Dubai wedding in February whose budget was around ₹144 crores. In December 2022, he presented his concept to Chandrakar and two to three other persons and he was subsequently selected for organising the wedding. The event manager told ED that Chandrakar allegedly did not want to pay GST (Goods and Services Tax) at the rate of 18 per cent on the payments made to vendors in India. “Therefore, all the payments were made in cash,” the event organiser told the ED, as per the agency’s chargesheet.

The event organiser also said that a “gala dinner event” was allegedly also to be organised by Chandrakar at the World Trade Centre, Dubai, on September 18 this year, but it got cancelled when the news broke out that the latter had been detained by Sri Lankan authorities. HT had in August reported on ED’s spotlight on a few celebrities who were allegedly invited to the Dubai event

Uppal and Chandrakar have allegedly acquired the passports of Vanuatu, an Oceania country in the South Pacific Ocean, which they use to “roam freely” even though they have not yet renounced their Indian citizenship. The ED has approached Interpol to issue red corner notices (RCN) against Chandrakar and Uppal, to ensure their detention and bring them to India to face the law for allegedly running illegal online betting operations. According to the chargesheet, Chandrakar and Uppal are the main promoters and beneficial owners of the Mahadev apps platform. Initially, they had moved to Dubai but now they are suspected of frequently being on the move, from Sri Lanka, Australia, London to Caribbean countries, it said.