Actor Sonu Sood appears before ED in betting app linked PMLA case

Actor Sonu Sood on Wednesday appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for questioning in a money-laundering case linked to an online betting app named 1xBet, officials said.

Sood (52) reached the agency's office in central Delhi around 12 noon.

The investigating officer of the case will question the actor and record his statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the officials said.

The federal probe agency has questioned former cricketers Suresh Raina, Shikhar Dhawan, Robin Uthappa and Yuvraj Singh apart from former TMC MP and actor Mimi Chakraborty and Bengali actor Ankush Hazra over the last few weeks as part of this investigation.

Some female social media influencers have also been questioned by the agency as part of this investigation.

The probe into the operations of the 1xBet betting app is part of the ED's wider probe against such platforms on allegations of duping numerous people of crores of rupees and reportedly evading a huge amount of direct and indirect taxes.

According to Curacao-registered 1xBet, it is a globally recognised bookmaker with 18 years in the betting industry. The brand's customers can place bets on thousands of sporting events, with the company's website and app available in 70 languages, according to the information available on its website.

Some more sportspersons, movie actors, online influencers and celebrities are expected to be questioned by the agency in the coming days.

The ED may also soon initiate the process to attach assets of individuals in this case who are found using the alleged proceeds of crime generated from the promotional activities of the app. A chargesheet will be filed subsequently before a court, the sources said.

The agency's line of investigation, according to sources, is to know from the celebrities as to how they were contacted by the said betting company seeking their endorsement, the nodal person(s) for contact in India, the mode of payment (cash through hawala or banking channel) and place of the payment (in India or abroad), etc.

The agency, while recording the statements of the cricketers and actors, is understood to be asking them if they knew that online betting and gaming was illegal in India. It has also asked them to furnish a copy of their contracts and all relevant email and paper documentation made by them with 1xBet.

The agency is also looking at the end use of the money taken by the celebrities to check if any of them can be categorised as the "proceeds of crime" under the PMLA, according to the sources.

The Union government recently banned real money online gaming in India by bringing a legislation.

The ED has also recently taken a policy decision to have "focused strategies" in order to investigate financial crimes linked to alleged illegal betting and gaming.

According to estimates by market analysis firms and probe agencies undertaken before the government ban, there were about 22 crore Indian users in various such online betting apps, out of which half were regular users.

The online betting app market in India was estimated to be worth more than USD 100 billion, which was stated to be growing at the rate of 30 per cent, according to experts.

The government has told Parliament that it has issued 1,524 orders from 2022 till June 2025 to block online betting and gambling platforms.