New Delhi: “We are glad that the BCCI list is out and Shikhar Dhawan is not there, which means we can continue our discussion regarding sponsoring him,” read an email from a team at 1xBet, a betting app, to the CEO of Da One Group, founded by the former Indian batsman, Dhawan.
The email, sent on 13 March 2024, was in response to a day-old email by the CEO of Dhawan’s firm, informing 1xBet that the left-handed batter would be dropped from the contract list of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the governing body for managing the Indian cricket team.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has accused Shikhar Dhawan, as well as former middle-order batsman Suresh Raina, of being aware that operations linked with betting platforms are illegal and banned in India and could be sanctioned under their BCCI contracts, citing this email trail. The agency has brought these emails to the fore in their money laundering probe against the two ex-cricketers in connection with their alleged endorsement and promotion of 1xBet.
On Thursday, the ED attached Raina’s investment of Rs 6.64 crore held in ICICI Prudential mutual funds, and earlier, Shikhar Dawan’s Rs 4.45 crore-worth immovable property in Delhi’s Tilak Nagar had also been provisionally attached.
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‘Aware of illegality, avoided BCCI sanctions’
In the provisional attachment order issued Thursday—a copy of which ThePrint has seen—the ED documented the process in which the betting app onboarded the two ex-cricketers. It alleged that both Dhawan and Raina consciously and deliberately entered into agreements with the betting platform after their association with the BCCI had ended. This deliberate arrangement, the ED alleged, was planned and executed to avoid sanctions from the BCCI, and it established their awareness about the betting app activities being impermissible under the law.
Raina, known for his handy off-spin, played more than 300 matches for India across formats till August 2020, when he retired. Later, in September 2022, he retired from playing IPL, or the Indian Premier League.
Dhawan played more than 200 games for India across formats and retired from all forms of cricket in August 2024.
Earlier this year, on 4 September, the ED sleuths questioned Dhawan, confronting him with the email trail between the firm he founded—Da One Group—and betting app 1xBet’s team after the investigating agency had extracted all the communications. Still earlier on 13 August this year, Raina also faced questions about his agreement with the same firm.
Asked why there was a reference to his omission from the BCCI contract list before his agreement with 1xBet, Dhawan said that the BCCI contracts barred Indian players from “any agreement for endorsement of any betting/gambling related advertisement”.
The ED claimed a similar approach of Raina, stating that he, too, agreed to promote the betting app only after he retired from all forms of international and domestic cricket.
“The investigation conducted under PMLA, 2002, has revealed that Shri Suresh Raina and Shri Shikhar Dhawan, in active collusion with foreign entities, such as Vidator Digital DMCC, Dubai, and One Digital Entertainment Private Limited, Singapore, knowingly participated in promotional activities linked to the said illegal betting platform,” the ED official submitted in the provisional attachment order.
The investigating agency claimed that an analysis of email trails and the sequence of events established that the endorsement contract between Dhawan and Vidator Digital DMCC (Dubai Multi Commodities Centre) was deliberately finalised and executed immediately after the expiry of his BCCI contract, but before his retirement.
“As per his own admission, he consciously waited for the release of the BCCI contract list, and upon confirmation that his name no longer appeared in it, he proceeded to enter into an agreement for promotion of 1xBat, a surrogate of 1xBet,” the ED officer submitted. “This deliberate timing establishes that Shikhar Dhawan and his team were fully aware that active BCCI players are contractually prohibited from engaging in any betting or gambling-related endorsements.”
“Therefore, the fact that he entered into such an agreement, right after cessation of his BCCI obligations, clearly demonstrates his knowledge of the prohibited nature of such association, and an attempt to avoid direct violation during his BCCI contract. This clearly establishes that the association with 1xBet was undertaken with full knowledge and understanding of its true nature,” the officer further submitted.
‘Dhawan, Raina received Rs 11.14 cr in total’
The ED has alleged that Raina received approximately Rs 6.64 crore between 2022 and 2024 for endorsement agreements with Hong Kong-based Next Generation IT Solutions, Cyprus-based Gabumas Limited, and Dubai-based Vidator Digital DMCC, which have, since then, been identified as firms running the operations of betting app 1xBet. Of this, nearly Rs 4.13 crore was transferred to his firm in India, and the remaining was transferred to his Dubai bank account.
Similarly, the agency found that Dhawan forged agreements with the Dubai-based firm Vidator Digital DMCC and the Singaporean firm One Digital Entertainment Pte through his firm, Da One Venture Marketing Management, for the endorsement of 1xBet. As part of the agreements, Dhawan received nearly Rs 4.50 crore in two tranches between March and April 2024.
“The endorsement agreements signed by Shri Suresh Raina and Shri Shikhar Dhawan did not include any territorial restrictions. This allowed their promotional videos, photographs, and social-media posts to be freely accessible in India, where betting and gambling are prohibited,” the ED officer submitted.
“As both individuals are former Indian cricketers with a large following in India, their promotions were naturally seen by Indian audiences. By endorsing 1xBet and its surrogate brands, they helped increase the platform’s visibility and credibility in India,” the ED officer noted.
“The payments received for these endorsements are linked to the proceeds of illegal betting activities and therefore qualify as ‘proceeds of crime’ under Section 2(1)(u) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002,” the officer concluded.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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