Hyderabad: Abhishek Kumar, a key accused in the Mahadev online betting and gambling case, was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) immediately after he landed in Hyderabad from Dubai on Thursday.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has claimed that the perpetrators of the illegal activities involving this racket have so far generated and laundered proceeds of crime worth more than Rs 94,000 crore.
Kumar, who was allegedly close to main accused Saurabh Chandrakar and Shubham Soni, was deported from the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Chandrakar and Soni continue to operate the gambling network from the UAE and other jurisdictions though, as reported by The Times of India.
According to investigators, Kumar coordinated various panels in the Mahadev network and was responsible for collecting funds and acquiring immovable assets in Dubai with ill-gotten proceeds of crime.
He has been taken to Raipur and produced before a special court for police remand. So far, seven Red Corner Notices and two extradition requests have been pending against the other accused.
In its latest chargesheet, the ED has said that the Mahadev online betting and gambling app is still active and proceeds of crime of Rs 94,000 crore have been generated so far by the accused, who are in Duba.
More than Rs 1,000 crore has been invested in the Indian share markets through foreign portfolio investments (FPIs), the agency claimed. It estimated that in the last few years, the accused generated more than Rs 11,000 crore annually from illegal online gambling and betting activities.
This is based on analysis of various seized digital evidence and statements of several accused. The gambling network has been running since 2019.
“As per latest findings, Mahadev app is still running a huge number of panels. Estimated proceeds of crime generated by the app is around Rs 75,000-80,000 crore during the last seven years,” the ED has said.
Other illegal apps run by the syndicate like Skyexchange.com and Lotus365.com have generated proceeds of crime of over Rs 14,000 crore, it said.
“A majority of the proceeds of crime was layered and transferred to the promoters based in Dubai,” the agency has claimed.
The ED has attached assets worth over Rs 2,000 crore linked to various accused so far. The agency said the above estimation of proceeds of crime is only a provisional figure and is likely to go up.