The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached assets totaling ₹11.14 crore belonging to former Indian cricketers Suresh Raina and Shikhar Dhawan. This action falls under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) of 2002. Among the attached assets are mutual fund investments worth ₹6.64 crore registered in Raina’s name and an immovable property valued at ₹4.5 crore under Dhawan’s name.
The ED’s investigation is based on multiple FIRs lodged by various state police agencies against operators of the illegal offshore betting platform 1xBet. Findings suggest that 1xBet, along with its associated brands 1xBat and 1xbat Sporting Lines, played a significant role in promoting and facilitating illegal online gambling activities across India.
Evidence indicates that both Raina and Dhawan knowingly signed endorsement agreements with foreign entities to promote 1xBet through surrogate methods. These endorsements involved payments funneled through foreign entities to obscure the illicit origins of the funds, which are connected to profits from illegal betting operations.
Further investigations have shown that 1xBet operated unlawfully in India, utilizing surrogate branding and advertisements aimed at Indian users via social media, videos, and print. Endorsement payments were complexly structured through layered transactions using foreign intermediaries to mask the illegal source of capital.
The asset attachment follows the ED’s search operations under the provisions of PMLA. The investigation revealed that 1xBet facilitated betting for Indian users by collecting funds through various “mule” accounts. So far, more than 6,000 such accounts have been identified as used for processing deposits. Monies gathered in these mule accounts were funneled through multiple payment gateways to disguise their origins.
Investigators found that merchants associated with these gateways were onboarded without proper KYC verifications. Upon reviewing these merchant profiles, inconsistencies appeared between reported business activities and actual transaction patterns, suggesting potential money laundering exceeding ₹1,000 crores.
Based on these revelations, searches initiated by the ED have resulted in the seizure of critical evidence. More than 60 bank accounts related to these payment gateways have been frozen, with amounts exceeding ₹4 crores currently under restriction. The investigation is ongoing, with further developments anticipated.
Original Source: https://tripurachronicle.in/national-news/ed-attaches-assets-worth-%E2%82%B911-cr-linked-to-former-cricketers-shikhar-dhawan-suresh-raina-in-1xbet-betting-app-money-laundering-probe/
Category: National News
Tags:
Publish Date: 2025-11-06 17:18:00
