Example of Mahadev betting app: Chhattisgarh EOW files a formal complaint against former chief minister Bhupesh Baghel and others

Based on an investigation report provided by the ED, the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) in Chhattisgarh has filed a complaint against former Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and others in the suspected Mahadev internet betting scam, authorities said on Sunday.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED), which has been looking into the money laundering case connected to the Mahadev app for more than a year, has previously claimed that its investigation has revealed the involvement of several high-ranking officials and politicians from Chhattisgarh, the state from which the two major app promoters are originally.

The ED estimates that around Rs 6,000 crore was made from this crime.

A senior EOW officer said, “The FIR was registered against Baghel and others at the EOW police station here on March 4 based on its report submitted to the state’s Economic Offences Wing/Anti-Corruption Bureau. The ED has been investigating the case.”

The senior Congress lawmaker Baghel added that the FIR names 14 other people as suspects in addition to app founders Ravi Uppal, Saurabh Chandrakar, Shubham Soni, and Anil Kumar Agrawal.

According to him, a number of unnamed private individuals, police officers, bureaucrats, and officers on special duty (OSDs) have also been implicated in the case but have not been given names.

The official said that the case has been filed under many sections of the Indian Penal Code, such as 120B (criminal conspiracy), 420 (cheating), and 471 (using a counterfeit document as authentic), as well as the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018.

The Mahadev Book App promoters Uppal, Chandrakar, Soni, and Agrawal built the platform for live online betting and bet via Whatsapp, Facebook, Telegram, and other social media platforms, according to the FIR, which cited the ED’s findings.

The promoters established several platforms and used panel operators and branch operators to carry out illicit online betting activities. According to the allegations, they gave panel operators and branch operators the remaining 70–80% of the illicit profits while keeping the remaining portion for themselves.

The FIR said that when the lockdown was implemented in 2020 (because to the Covid-19 epidemic), the entrepreneurs and panel operators made around Rs 450 crore per month using the online betting app.

The founders and panel operators of the Mahadev Book App established bank accounts based on fictitious papers to facilitate the transmission of the unlawfully acquired funds, and hundreds of bank accounts were run on a commission basis using the funds from wagering. It said that the panel operators used a number of bank accounts to transmit illicit funds to the promoters in the United Arab Emirates.

The app marketers invested a significant sum of money in promoting betting websites. According to the FIR, celebrities were paid to participate in yearly star-studded parties by using illicit money won from betting, and celebrities were also invited.

It said that the app promoters’ illicit profits from online gambling were invested in a number of businesses, shell corporations, the stock market, and cryptocurrency.

Hari Shankar Tibrewal, who was connected to the Mahadev Online Book, operated a comparable betting site named Sky Exchange. According to the FIR, the ED has seized his assets, which are estimated to be worth around Rs 580 crore.

The creators of the Mahadev Book App claimed to have handed significant sums of money to powerful political figures, police, and administrative officials in order to shield them from legal punishment over the unlawful conduct of online betting.

According to the FIR, police officials and staff were also utilized as couriers for the arranging and distribution of the protection money, which was handled by hawala operators.

Numerous law enforcement officials, administrative staff members, and powerful political figures have abused their authority and amassed illicit wealth in the form of protection funds. The ED has attached several immovable assets provisionally, according to the statement.

During the Chhattisgarh assembly elections last year, Baghel was singled out by senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) officials, including as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, due to the Mahadev app controversy.

In the Mahadev betting app case, Baghel had referred to the ED’s actions as a “political conspiracy” and said that the federal agency was operating under the direction of its “political masters”. In this instance, the ED has detained nine people so far.

Thus far, the ED has filed two chargesheets in the Raipur court, one of which is directed at Chandrakar and the other towards Uppal. It has already carried out many raids in relation to the matter.

The ED said, “Mahadev Online Book operates out of Dubai and makes a 70–30% profit ratio by franchising panel/branches to their known associates.”

“The primary advocates of MOB are also involved as partners or sponsors in several online betting books, including as Reddy Anna, Fairplay, etc., and extensive hawala activities are carried out to divert the earnings from wagers to foreign accounts,” the statement said.