The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday carried out fresh multi-state raids, including at the residence of a leading travel firm founder, in connection with the Mahadev online betting app money laundering case, officials said, reported the PTI.
The raids are being conducted at premises located in Delhi, Mumbai (Maharashtra), Chandigarh, Ahmedabad (Gujarat), Indore (Madhya Pradesh), Jaipur (Rajasthan), Chennai (Tamil Nadu) and Sambalpur in Odisha, the officials informed, reported PTI.
The premises of the founder and chairman of an online travel booking platform were also searched, the officials said.
The case gained media attention years ago when the agency alleged that several senior politicians and bureaucrats from Chhattisgarh were involved in the illegal operation and financial transactions related to the app.
According to PTI, searches have been undertaken in this case in the past, too.
The Enforcement Directorate has previously claimed that its investigation into the Mahadev Online Betting (MOB) app revealed links to several top politicians and bureaucrats in Chhattisgarh, the home state of key promoters Sourabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal.
It said the MOB app is an umbrella syndicate arranging online platforms for enabling illegal betting websites to enrol new users, create user IDS and launder money through a layered web of benami bank accounts.
National Herald case: ED chargesheets Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi
The Enforcement Directorate has filed a charge sheet against Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and others on charges of money laundering in the National Herald case, as per the PTI.
Special judge Vishal Gogne examined the charge sheet, which was filed on April 9, on the point of cognisance and posted the matter for further proceedings on April 25.
The charge sheet also names Congress leader Sam Pitroda and Suman Dubey as accused persons.
“The present prosecution complaint shall next be taken up for consideration on the aspect of cognisance before this court on April 25, 2025 when the special counsel for the ED and IO shall also ensure the production of the case diaries for perusal by the court,” the judge said, according to the PTI.
The chargesheet was filed under Sections 3 (money laundering) and 4 (punishment for money laundering) of Prevention of Money Laundering Act by ED`s special public prosecutor N K Matta.
“Let the complaint be checked and registered. The Ahlmad (court staff) shall ensure that the entire file/documents are properly paginated. The ED is directed to file a soft copy of the complaint and documents in readable/OCR format by the next date,” the judge said, the news agency reported.
The special judge dealing with the cases of lawmakers also noted the submission of the ED, which said it would be moving an application before the district judge for the transfer of the case related to the predicate offence, being probed by the CBI for alleged cheating, criminal conspiracy and other offences, based on which the ED had started its investigation in the present matter, from another court to Judge Gogne`s court.
(With PTI inputs)
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