New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has issued notices to Google and Meta in connection with its investigation in online betting app cases. The tech giants have been summoned for questioning on July 21, as per the notices served on Saturday.
This indicates that the agency is expanding the scope of its investigation in the matter that has already seen numerous celebrities and influencers come under the scanner for promoting alleged illegal gambling platforms.
“Both Google and Meta have allegedly actively facilitated the promotion of betting applications that are currently under investigation for serious financial crimes, including money laundering and hawala transactions,” an official said.
Authorities have claimed that these tech companies provided prominent advertising slots and allowed websites linked to these online betting platforms to gain visibility on their respective platforms, thereby contributing to the widespread reach of these illicit operations.
The notices follow a series of actions by the ED in recent weeks. The agency has been meticulously investigating a vast network of online betting apps, many of which are suspected of masquerading as skill-based games while actually engaging in illegal gambling. These platforms are believed to have generated illicit funds worth crores of rupees, often routed through complex hawala channels to avoid detection.
The ED has also registered a case against 29 individuals, including prominent actors, television hosts, and social media influencers, for allegedly promoting these illegal betting applications. Celebrities like Prakash Raj, Rana Daggubati, and Vijay Deverakonda are among those who have been named in the Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR), with allegations that they received substantial financial compensation for endorsing these apps.
