New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) Thursday arrested a man described as a close associate of the promoters of Mahadev Online Book, an illegal betting platform under investigation on several counts.
In a statement released Friday, the ED said Nitish Diwan, the ninth accused arrested in the case, was “working at the highest level” in the operations of the betting company, which is headquartered in the United Arab Emirates.
Diwan, it added, knowingly assisted Mahadev Online Book promoters Saurabh Chandrakar, Ravi Uppal and Shubham Soni in laundering money.
Mahadev Online Book is a mobile app that offers a platform for betting on live games such as poker, other card games and chance games, besides sports like cricket, badminton and football. The app, sources in the ED had told ThePrint earlier, also offers election betting.
Sources in Chhattisgarh Police say Chandrakar and Uppal hail from Bhilai. The Chhattisgarh Police has filed over 70 FIRs in connection with the app, alleging transactions to the tune of Rs 5,000 crore were carried out in 2022 through the Mahadev Online Book.
The ED suspects the operation was run with the help of several officials in the previous Chhattisgarh government. The agency has so far filed two prosecution complaints in this case.
Last year, just ahead of assembly elections in the state, the ED said it was looking into allegations that Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel — the chief minister at the time — got Rs 508 crore from the promoters of the app.
Baghel had termed the allegations a “malicious attempt to tarnish” his image.
The agency had also questioned Baghel’s political adviser Vinod Verma, who dismissed the allegations as well.
After Diwan’s arrest, the ED said companies were set up and assets purchased in his name, and these were used to route funds generated through the betting syndicate.
The agency said such was the proximity of Diwan with the Mahadev Online Book promoters that they sent him to explore business opportunities in Zimbabwe as they considered expanding their betting operations in the African continent.
“Nitish Diwan was found to be holding assets in his name which were beneficially owned by the promoters of Mahadev Online Book. He was fully aware of the illegal operations of the Mahadev Online Book,” the ED statement said.
“He was holding bank accounts in UAE and operating these bank accounts for routing funds. Companies have also been set up in his name in UAE. These companies provided visa services to the staff of Mahadev Online Book working in Dubai and were also being used to route the illegal betting proceeds,” it added.
(Edited by Sunanda Ranjan)