A lookout circular has been issued against Saurabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal, promoters of the Mahadev betting app which is under the scanner for alleged money laundering, and a red corner notice may be issued against them soon, sources in the Enforcement Directorate told News18 on Saturday.
The ED has filed a 197-page chargesheet against Chandrakar, Uppal and 12 others at a special PMLA court at Chhattisgarh’s Raipur, detailing how the duo allegedly tried to set up a conglomerate to mask their earnings from the app. As per the chargesheet, proceeds from the alleged scam amount to Rs 6,000 crore.
“We have a treaty with the UAE, so that shouldn’t be a problem. Currently, we have approached the Home Ministry and the process to issue red corner notice against the two will start soon,” said ED lawyer Saurabh Kumar Pandey.
The case that started with the lavish Rs 250-crore wedding of Saurabh Chandrakar in Dubai has turned into a scandal with several Bollywood actors and celebrities receiving summons from the ED in the money laundering probe.
The Mahadev betting app had different games, lotteries and betting options for everything under the sun, including the prediction of election results, weather, matches etc. These have been operational for the past four years. The online app, like other Ponzi schemes, targeted the lower income group. The games, the lotteries and betting options were all rigged where the ‘players’ always lost money and the company gained.
According to the chargesheet, IDs and software for the Mahadev app was developed in Hyderabad and was eventually be passed on to panel/franchise operators. In initial days, Chandrakar and Uppal would allegedly travel from Hyderabad to Bilaspur.
“The modus operandi adopted by the app was such that the betting activity would be shown in a video game format, wherein the money won would be shown as points, and not money. This was done to mask betting as a game,” said a top source in the ED.
The chargesheet further alleged that the money won or lost in the betting would then exchange hands through a link that would be shared.
The ED had also recently conducted searches at Bhilai. The duo had reportedly planned major investments in and around Bhilai, including acquiring new properties and setting up different businesses to form a conglomerate. The ED is also investigating FIRs registered at Visakhapatnam.
Sources further told News18 that since the ED started its investigation, Chandrakar and Uppal have been trying to keep the franchise operators in the business, even increasing their payout by 10%.
Chhattisgarh Police ASI Chandrabhushan Verma, who allegedly worked as a liaisoning officer for the app runners, had also allegedly set up a trading company where he would trade in everything ranging from food to automobile. “He would sell the products at three times the margin. This was being done to siphon off money from the Mahadev app promoters in the guise of other businesses,” said the source.
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