MOB case: ED calls 3 more celebrities for questioning

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned actors Huma Qureshi, Hina Khan, and comedian Kapil Sharma for questioning in connection with its probe against Mahadev Online Book (MOB) betting/gaming apps. The agency is also investigating other celebrities and social media influencers for endorsing the platform. The ED believes that MOB conducts illegal online betting and that actor Ranbir Kapoor was involved in digital promotions for one of MOB's apps. The agency suspects that MOB earns around ₹200 crore daily and may have generated up to ₹20,000 crore through illegal activities in recent years.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday summoned actors Huma Qureshi and Hina Khan, and comedian Kapil Sharma for questioning in connection with its probe against Mahadev Online Book (MOB) betting/gaming apps. On Monday, the agency issued a summons to actor Ranbir Kapoor.

Mumbai: Actor Kapil Sharma during the promotion of film Anna: Kisan Baburao Hazare on the sets of The Kapil Sharma Show in Mumbai on Sept. 23, 2016. (Photo: IANS) (IANS)

ED sources said Qureshi, Khan and Sharma were among those celebrities who had either attended MOB’s ‘success’ party held at a five-star hotel in Dubai last September or for endorsing MOB’s betting platform. Their statements will be recorded as those of ‘witnesses’ but the agency will later evaluate, based on evidence, whether it needs to take any further steps against them, the sources said.

Also on the agency’s radar is a group of celebrities who had been invited by MOB to attend its ‘success’ party that was scheduled to be held in Dubai on September 18 this year, for which it had allegedly spent ₹40 crore, the agency sources said. ED will also record ‘witness’ statements from a group of other celebrities, including actor Shraddha Kapoor, for allegedly endorsing the platform/apps on social media, the sources added.

The probe into the online betting syndicate that began in Chattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh has reached Mumbai.

It’s ED’s case that MOB conducts illegal betting online and that Kapoor allegedly was part of the digital promotions for one of the several betting and gaming apps of the Dubai-based company, agency sources said. Kapoor’s statement will be recorded as a ‘witness’ but the agency will later evaluate, based on evidence, whether it needs to take any further steps against the star, the sources said.

In addition to about a dozen stars, ED is also probing around 100 social media influencers who were being paid by MOB to promote its 60 betting and gaming apps and websites. 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 conducted by the MOB platform.

The agency also wants to confirm from Kapoor, who is not on any social media platform, about his conversations with the two MOB promoters, Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal. Both these men are based in Dubai and are wanted in India in connection with ED’s investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, as well as by the police in Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh where cases are registered against them.

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.

Each Monday, the panels transfer the earnings from the illegal betting/gaming to MOB’s Dubai-based headquarters, sources said. ED suspects that MOB, on an average, earns around ₹200 crore daily, whose details are shared with the headquarters by the day’s end, sources said. 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.

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 a person 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.

Ranbir seeks two weeks to appear before ED

Actor Ranbir Kapoor on Thursday sought two weeks’ time to appear before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for questioning in connection with a money-laundering investigation against Mahadev Online Book (MOB) platform.

ED on Wednesday said that it had issued summons to Kapoor to appear on Friday before its investigating team in Raipur, Chhattisgarh. The ED summoned Kapoor to record his statement and to seek details related to his alleged monetary transactions with the MOB in connection with his endorsement of one of its betting and gaming apps.

ED sources, while confirming the receipt of the communication from Kapoor, seeking two weeks’ time, said the agency is yet to take a call on his request. If the reason for seeking time in such cases appear to be genuine, the agency usually accepts such requests, agency sources said.