New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has booked around two dozen celebrities, including leading actors Vijay Devarakonda and Rana Daggubati, in connection with allegedly promoting betting applications, ThePrint has learnt.
Agency sources said the accused, including the celebrities, would be summoned to record their statements.
The agency’s money laundering case stems from five criminal complaints registered by investors and a Telangana-based businessman, as well as one FIR filed by the Andhra Pradesh Police at the Vishakapatnam Police Commissionerate.
Agency sources said more FIRs are expected to be clubbed into the same Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) as more victims are expected to come forward with their complaints.
Sources added that the money laundering investigation under the Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, 2002, has been launched based on complaints against applications such as JeetWin, Parimatch, Lotus365, Junglee Rummy and A23, and others suspected of involvement in large-scale money laundering.
Officials say that the promoters of these betting websites divert the money from the primary firm’s bank accounts, where it was deposited, into personal bank accounts or those of unrelated firms as part of a layering process and for subsequent use for personal purposes.
Apart from Devarakonda and Daggubati, the agency has also named prominent celebrities such as actor Prakash Raj, actor-producer Manchu Lakshmi, actors Praneetha and Nidhi Agarwal. The list also includes TV and media personalities such as Ananya Nagella, Siri Hanumanthu, Sreemukhi, Varshini Sounderajan, Vasanthi Krishnan, Shoba Shetty, Amrutha Chowdary, Nayani Pavani, Neha Pathan, Pandu, Padhmavathi, Imran Khan, Vishnu Priya and Shyamala.
In addition to these celebrities, social media influencers such as Harsha Sai, Bayya Sunny Yadav, Tastyteja, Rithu Chowdhary, Bandaru Sheshayani Supritha, Ajay, Sunny, Sudheer, and the YouTube channel ‘Local Boy Nani’ have also been named in the document that formally starts the investigation against money laundering.
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Tale of FIRs and ‘skill’ based games
The first of the five FIRs that formed the basis of the money laundering case was registered on a complaint by a Hyderabad restaurant worker, Bandaru Venkatesh in December last year.
Venkatesh claimed to have lost over Rs 13.6 lakh after being lured by influencer Kartha Harsha Sai’s social media, promising high bonuses.
Enticed by these claims, Venkatesh, who used to earn Rs 18,000 per month salary, invested Rs 13,67,300 over a year and lost the money.
Sai allegedly promoted websites such as Parimatch, Lotus 365 and Battery as legal investment opportunities in India, falsely showcasing winnings, bonus codes and prize money to entice followers. It was allegedly claimed that depositing Rs 20,000 would result in a 150 percent bonus through these platforms.
Based on Venkatesh’s complaint, the Cyberabad Police had booked Sai under Section 318(4) (cheating) of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS), 66-D of the Information Technology (IT) Act that deals with the offence of cheating by personation using a computer resource or communication device. ThePrint has accessed the FIR.
“Venkatesh funded these transactions through savings, loans from friends, online borrowing apps, and even by selling gold assets, leaving him unable to repay his debts,” the FIR registered at Cyberabad stated.
However, after coming across news reports about these websites being illegal in the country and Sai’s reported involvement in these frauds, he approached the police and got an FIR registered.
The most damning FIR forming the basis of the ED’s case was registered at Miyapur Police station in Cyberabad by a city-based businessman P.M. Phanindra Sarma on 19 March this year. In his complaint, Sarma had listed 25 suspects, including Devarakonda, Daggubati and Prakash Raj, along with other celebrities and social media influencers. ThePrint has accessed the FIR.
In his complaint filed on the same day, Sarma said he had been interacting with local youth who started discussing investments in applications promoted by prominent celebrities. He also found such social media posts while using sites like Facebook and Instagram, in which celebrities were promoting these applications.
Based on his complaint, the Cyberabad Police booked these celebrities under Sections 318(4) (cheating), 112 (petty organised crime) and 49 (abetment) of the BNS, as well as 66-D of the IT Act and relevant provisions of the Telangana State Gaming Act.
“The influencers and celebrities who are promoting these apps and websites are doing so by accepting huge sums of money as commission and remuneration. These platforms are encouraging public, especially people that are in dire need of money, to invest their hard-earned and family money into those apps/websites and slowly get addicted to them, leading to total financial collapse,” he alleged in the complaint.
“All the above-referred betting applications are in direct violation of the gambling laws and regulations, especially the Public Gambling Act of 1867, causing harm to individuals and society by encouraging this addictive easy money-making mechanisms, leading to financial distress,” he added.
He then submitted a list of celebrities and applications they were promoting at the time, seeking action against the management of these companies, as well as celebrities for promoting such applications that led to financial distress among users.
Agency sources said that although these applications and their promoters advertise the platforms as “skill-based” games, the system is stacked in favour of operators, making it nearly impossible for a normal investor to win in the long term.
(Edited by Sugita Katyal)
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