Raipur, Chhattisgarh's Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB)/Economic Offenses Wing (EOW) on Wednesday said it has arrested two people in connection with the alleged illegal operation of Mahadev online gaming and betting application, allegedly involving senior state officials. Politicians and bureaucrats were involved.
The arrest of the duo, made from New Delhi and Goa, came after the state probe agency registered a case on March 4 based on a report submitted by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which has been pointing to a money laundering aspect in the scam for some time. Investigating. One year.
ED has so far arrested nine people separately as part of its investigation.
An ACB/EOW statement said, “While (accused) Rahul Wakte was in Delhi, (co-accused) Ritesh Yadav was found in Goa.,
Officials said that both were produced in a Raipur court on Wednesday, from where they were sent to ACB/EOW custody for six days.
The statement said the duo were absconding since August last year, when Chandrabhushan Verma, an assistant sub-inspector of the state police, was arrested (by the ED) in the alleged scam.
"Vakte was allegedly engaged in channeling money received through hawala (illegal channel for fund transfer) to Verma. Three companies were registered in the name of Vakte, in which huge amounts of cash were deposited. Yadav allegedly But was the operator panel of online betting app (Mahadev).) and helped Verma and another person Satish Chandrakar after receiving money through hawala, Rs 43 lakh of hawala has been seized.
Chandrakar was arrested by ED last year in a money laundering case.
Yadav was operating the Mahadev betting app panel in Pune (Maharashtra). The state ACB, in collaboration with Pune Police, conducted a raid there and arrested eight people involved in the operation of the betting app panel. The statement said that Pune Police is taking further action against him.The ACB/EOW has named former Congress chief minister Bhupesh Baghel as well as app promoters Ravi Uppal, Saurabh Chandrakar, Shubham Soni and Anil Kumar Aggarwal and 14 others as accused in its FIR registered in the alleged Mahadev betting app scam. ,
The case was registered under IPC sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 42 (cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged document) and sections 7 and 11 of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018, among others. . /EOW had said earlier.
Citing the ED report, the FIR said that Mahadev Book App promoters Uppal Saurabh Chandrakar, Shubham Soni and Anil Aggarwal created an online platform for live online betting and conducted gambling through WhatsApp, Facebook, Telegram and other social media platforms. Joined.
The promoters created different platforms and carried out illegal online betting operations through panel operators/branch operators. The FIR states that they kept 70% to 8% of the illegal earnings with themselves and distributed the remaining money to panel operators/branch operators.It said that after the lockdown was imposed in 2020 (following the outbreak of COVID-19), promoters and panel operators earned around Rs 450 crore per month through online betting apps.
It said the panel operators transferred illicit funds to app promoters in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) through various bank accounts.
It said that several police personnel, administrative officials and influential politicians have misused their positions and acquired illegal assets in the form of protection money from the promoters of Mahadev Book App.
I said, temporary attachment of many immovable properties has been done by ED.
Former CM Baghel, who lost power in December 2023, had in January termed the ED's action in the Mahadev betting app case as a "political conspiracy" and accused the federal agency of acting at the behest of its "political masters".ED has so far arrested nine people in the case related to money laundering.
The ED has so far filed two chargesheets in a Raipur court, against the two main promoters of the alleged illegal betting and gaming app, Saurav Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal. It had conducted several raids earlier also.
According to ED, the estimated proceeds of crime in the money laundering case is estimated to be around Rs 6,000 crore.
The arrest of the duo, made from New Delhi and Goa, came after the state probe agency registered a case on March 4 based on a report submitted by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which has been pointing to a money laundering aspect in the scam for some time. Investigating. One year.
ED has so far arrested nine people separately as part of its investigation.
An ACB/EOW statement said, “While (accused) Rahul Wakte was in Delhi, (co-accused) Ritesh Yadav was found in Goa.,
Officials said that both were produced in a Raipur court on Wednesday, from where they were sent to ACB/EOW custody for six days.
The statement said the duo were absconding since August last year, when Chandrabhushan Verma, an assistant sub-inspector of the state police, was arrested (by the ED) in the alleged scam.
"Vakte was allegedly engaged in channeling money received through hawala (illegal channel for fund transfer) to Verma. Three companies were registered in the name of Vakte, in which huge amounts of cash were deposited. Yadav allegedly But was the operator panel of online betting app (Mahadev).) and helped Verma and another person Satish Chandrakar after receiving money through hawala, Rs 43 lakh of hawala has been seized.
Chandrakar was arrested by ED last year in a money laundering case.
Yadav was operating the Mahadev betting app panel in Pune (Maharashtra). The state ACB, in collaboration with Pune Police, conducted a raid there and arrested eight people involved in the operation of the betting app panel. The statement said that Pune Police is taking further action against him.The ACB/EOW has named former Congress chief minister Bhupesh Baghel as well as app promoters Ravi Uppal, Saurabh Chandrakar, Shubham Soni and Anil Kumar Aggarwal and 14 others as accused in its FIR registered in the alleged Mahadev betting app scam. ,
The case was registered under IPC sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 42 (cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged document) and sections 7 and 11 of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018, among others. . /EOW had said earlier.
Citing the ED report, the FIR said that Mahadev Book App promoters Uppal Saurabh Chandrakar, Shubham Soni and Anil Aggarwal created an online platform for live online betting and conducted gambling through WhatsApp, Facebook, Telegram and other social media platforms. Joined.
The promoters created different platforms and carried out illegal online betting operations through panel operators/branch operators. The FIR states that they kept 70% to 8% of the illegal earnings with themselves and distributed the remaining money to panel operators/branch operators.It said that after the lockdown was imposed in 2020 (following the outbreak of COVID-19), promoters and panel operators earned around Rs 450 crore per month through online betting apps.
It said the panel operators transferred illicit funds to app promoters in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) through various bank accounts.
It said that several police personnel, administrative officials and influential politicians have misused their positions and acquired illegal assets in the form of protection money from the promoters of Mahadev Book App.
I said, temporary attachment of many immovable properties has been done by ED.
Former CM Baghel, who lost power in December 2023, had in January termed the ED's action in the Mahadev betting app case as a "political conspiracy" and accused the federal agency of acting at the behest of its "political masters".ED has so far arrested nine people in the case related to money laundering.
The ED has so far filed two chargesheets in a Raipur court, against the two main promoters of the alleged illegal betting and gaming app, Saurav Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal. It had conducted several raids earlier also.
According to ED, the estimated proceeds of crime in the money laundering case is estimated to be around Rs 6,000 crore.
