Online betting case: Urvashi Rautela appears before ED in PMLA case

The ED has questioned cricketers such as Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Robin Uthappa and Shikhar Dhawan apart from actors Sonu Sood, Mimi Chakraborty and Ankush Hazra as part of this investigation

Actor and model Urvashi Rautela on Tuesday appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case linked to an online betting and gaming platform named 1xbet, official sources said.

The 31-year-old is the India ambassador of the platform, registered in the Caribbean island of Curacao.

The federal probe agency has begun recording her statement under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the sources said.

The ED has questioned cricketers such as Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Robin Uthappa and Shikhar Dhawan apart from actors Sonu Sood, Mimi Chakraborty (a former TMC MP) and Ankush Hazra (Bengali cinema) as part of this investigation over the last few weeks. Some online influencers have also been questioned.

The agency is also expected to attach assets worth crores of rupees of some sportspersons and actors under the anti-money laundering law as part of the probe.

The investigation into the case related to the portal 1xBet found that some of these celebrities utilised the endorsement fee paid to them for acquiring a variety of assets, the sources said. The assets qualified as "proceeds of crime" under the anti-money laundering law.

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

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

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