ED files fresh chargesheet in Mahadev betting app case, names 25 accused

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday filed a fresh charge sheet in the Mahadev betting app-linked money laundering case, in which various high-ranking politicians and bureaucrats from Chhattisgarh are alleged to have been involved. 

A total of 25 individuals and entities have been named as accused in the third prosecution complaint filed in this case before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court, ED lawyer Saurabh Pandey said. 

On this matter, the court is expected to take cognisance of the charge sheet on May 4 he said. 

Those arraigned in the charge sheet include Girish Talreja and Suraj Chokhani, who were arrested by the ED in this case sometime back, apart from some others. 

Talreja held a stake in the 'Lotus365', a sister concern of Mahadev Online Book (MOB) app. He is a partner with Sourabh Chandrakar, the main promoter of MOB, in the illegal operations of 'Lotus365', the agency had alleged earlier.

 

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The agency had raided Kolkata premises of a Dubai-based "hawala operator" named Hari Shankar Tibrewal on February 28, 2024 claiming he partnered with the promoters of MOB in illegal operations for betting website "skyexchange". 

"Tibrewal used Suraj Chokhani to launder and hide proceeds of crime under the guise of share investment for Indian companies," the agency had said in a statement. 

The ED has alleged in the past that its probe in the MOB gaming and betting app has shown involvement of various high-ranking politicians and bureaucrats from Chhattisgarh, the state where the two main promoters, Sourabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal, of the app hail from. 

It had said MOB app is an umbrella syndicate arranging online platforms for enabling illegal betting websites to enrol new users, create user IDs and laundering of money through a layered web of benami bank accounts. 

The ED has arrested a total of 11 persons in this case till now. The two main promoters of the app are stated to have been detained in Dubai on the basis of an ED-requested Interpol red notice. 

The projected proceeds of the crime in this case are about Rs 6,000 crore, as per the agency.