THE Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Raipur Zonal Office, has provisionally attached movable and immovable properties worth approximately Rs 940.77 crore belonging to alleged Mahadev Online Book syndicate associate Vikas Garg, his family members and entities owned or controlled by him under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. With this latest Provisional Attachment Order, the cumulative value of assets attached, seized or frozen in the Mahadev Online Book and Skyexchange illegal online betting money laundering investigation has risen to approximately Rs 3,800 crore, making it one of the country’s largest asset-tracing exercises arising out of an alleged online betting syndicate. According to the ED, the newly-attached assets comprise residential properties, land parcels, equity shares and other securities allegedly acquired from proceeds generated through illegal betting operations. The attachment forms part of the agency’s continuing money laundering investigation into the Mahadev Online Book and Skyexchange network.

 

The investigation stems from an FIR initially registered by the Chhattisgarh Police at Durg, besides several other FIRs lodged by police authorities in Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and other States against operators, promoters and associates of the alleged illegal betting platforms on charges including criminal conspiracy, cheating and forgery. The ED has alleged that the syndicate functioned through a franchise-based panel network operated from overseas and generated more than Rs 450 crore every month through illegal betting activities.

 

The agency further stated that its investigation revealed the alleged proceeds of crime were laundered through a multilayered structure of accommodation entries, shell entities and layered financial transactions designed to project tainted funds as legitimate. According to the ED, proceeds of crime aggregating approximately Rs 940.77 crore from Mahadev Online Book and Skyexchange betting operations were routed into entities owned and controlled by Vikas Garg before being utilised for the acquisition of shares, securities and other assets. Earlier in the investigation, the ED had issued seven Provisional Attachment Orders and filed multiple Prosecution Complaints, including supplementary complaints, before the Special Court (PMLA), Raipur, which has taken cognisance of the offence of money laundering. Prior to the latest action, movable and immovable properties worth approximately Rs 2,825 crore, including foreign assets, had already been attached, seized or frozen. The Enforcement Directorate said further investigation into the alleged money laundering network is continuing.