CONTINUING its crackdown, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) made two more key arrests under the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 for their role in the operations of Mahadev Online Book. Arrested on Friday, the two accused identified as Nitin Tibrewal and Amit Agrawal, were produced in the court of Ajay Singh Rajput, Special Judge PMLA, which granted their 5-days custody to the ED till Jan 17th. ED investigations revealed that Nitin Tibrewal is the majority shareholder of M/s Techpro IT Solutions Ltd, which was acting as front for Mahadev Online Book and investing the proceeds of crime generated out of illegal operations in India by way of Foreign Portfolio Investment. Nitin Tebriwal tried to conceal this fact despite multiple opportunities granted to him. He also did not reveal his foreign bank accounts and assets before the ED which have been discovered by the ED during the course of investigations. Thus, Nitin Tebriwal was found to be knowingly assisting in layering the proceeds of crime by investing it in his name and through associated Indian and foreign entities. ED probe further unearthed that Amit Agrawal is the brother of Anil Kumar Agrawal who is also a partner in Mahadev Online Book.

 

Amit Agrawal has knowingly utilised the proceeds of crime emanating out of Mahadev Online Book in purchasing assets in his name and name of his wife’s. To fund these purchases, Amit Agrawal arranged entries totalling Rs. 2.5 crore in his and his wife’s bank accounts against cash. In the statements recorded before the Directorate, he maintained these bank entries are loans, however, the entry operator involved in the transactions revealed the truth. Thus, Amit Agrawal was found to be knowingly assisting in concealing the Proceeds of Crime emanating out of the betting operations of Mahadev Online Book. So far, in this case, movable properties totalling Rs 572.41 crore have been seized/frozen during searches conducted under the PMLA, 2002. Two Provisional Attachment Orders have been issued, attaching movable and immovable properties valued at Rs 142.86 crore. Prosecution complaints dated 20.10.2023 and 01.01.2024, have been filed in the case.

 

Two additional accused have been arrested, bringing the total to eight accused apprehended in connection with the case. Further investigation is under progress. ED initiated investigation on the basis of FIRs registered by Chhattisgarh Police. Subsequently, other FIRs registered by Visakhapatnam Police and other States were also taken on record. M/s Mahadev Online Book Betting APP which is an umbrella syndicate arranging online platforms for enabling illegal betting websites to enrol new Users, create User IDs and laundering of money through a layered web of benami Bank accounts.