ED raids 17 places in Mahadev app case, finds records of Rs 100 crore laundered

ED raids 17 places in Mahadev app case, finds records of Rs 100 crore laundered

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday conducted searches at 17 locations across Mumbai, West Bengal, Delhi-NCR, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh in connection with the Mahadev App case. The online betting app case has former Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel in its crosshairs with the agency earlier asserting that one of the accused in the case had admitted to paying Rs 508 crore to Baghel.

Sources said the locations searched pertained to certain companies associated with Mahadev App. “These companies largely laundered the money illegally earned by Mahadev App,” an ED official said.

According to the official, the searches have so far led to the recovery of Rs 1.8 crore in cash from a Kolkata-based company and records of over Rs 100 crore laundered by the company.

The case pertains to the online gaming platform allegedly cheating people and making transactions close to Rs 5000 crore. The ED case is based on FIRs registered by Chhattisgarh police against the betting app. ED initiated its probe into the matter last year and has so far arrested nine people, including a Chhattisgarh policeman who is said to be a relative of the former CM’s advisor Vinod Verma.

Days ahead of Chhattisgarh polls, ED arrested an alleged courier identified as Asim Das with over Rs 5 crore in cash. Following the arrest, the agency made a sensational claim that Baghel had received over Rs 500 crore from the Dubai-based promoters of the app.

“From the questioning of Asim Das, and from the forensic examination of the phone recovered from him, and examination of an email sent by Shubam Soni (one of the high ranking accused of Mahadev network) many startling allegations have come forth, namely, that regular payments have been made in the past and so far around Rs 508 crore have been paid by Mahadev APP promoters to Bhupesh Baghel, Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh,” the ED had said in a statement.

This assertion, however, was retracted by Das later who said he was made to say this under duress. ED sources, however, claimed there was electronic evidence to show that Das handled cash on behalf of Mahadev app and paid bribes to top people in Baghel government.

Later, the apps promoter Shubham Soni too made the claim that he had paid over Rs 500 crore to Baghel in a video message.

The agency has claimed that as part of the operations, huge number of bank accounts in the name of unsuspecting people were opened by the promoters and the app’s panel operators. Most of the bank accounts were opened in Chhattisgarh only even as multiple Call Centers were being run from abroad to assist the players and panel operators.

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