Sources say Robin Uthappa, the former Indian cricketer, was at the Enforcement Directorate (ED) office today. He was questioned about a money laundering case related to a betting app on the internet.
Uthappa, 39, reached the office at 11 am. ED people questioned him and recorded his statement as per the PMLA rules. The case is related to the 1xBet website.
In the last few weeks, ED has also questioned other former cricketers like Suresh Raina and Shikhar Dhawan. Mimi Chakraborty, former MP and actress, and Ankush Hazra, Bengali actor, were also questioned.
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Yuvraj Singh, former cricketer, and Sonu Sood, actor, have been asked to come in for questioning on Tuesday and Wednesday. All this is part of the same case.
The investigation is looking into how 1xBet app works. ED is checking many such platforms as they think these apps have cheated many people and investors of huge amount of money. They also think the apps have not paid a lot of taxes.
1xBet claims to be a well known betting company which has been around for 18 years. It is registered in Curacao. People using the brand can bet on thousands of sports events. The company’s website and app can be used in 70 languages.
ED might question other sports persons, movie actors, online famous people and other celebrities in the coming days as well.
ED wants to know how these celebrities were approached by the betting company, who they spoke to in India, how they were paid (cash through illegal channels or through banks) and where they were paid (India or abroad).
They are asking the cricketers and actors if they knew that online betting and gaming is illegal in India. They have also been asked to submit their contracts and any emails or documents they had with 1xBet.
ED is also checking what the celebrities did with the money they got. They want to know if any of it can be called proceeds of crime under PMLA.
Indian government recently made a law to ban real money online gaming in India. In a meeting in Jammu and Kashmir, ED decided to launch a special drive to probe money laundering cases related to illegal betting and gaming.
Before the government banned online betting apps, experts estimated there were 220 million Indians on these apps. Half of them (110 million) were regular users.
Experts also said the online betting app market in India was over $100 billion and growing at 30% per annum.
The government has given information to Parliament that they have issued a blocking order against 1,524 online betting and gambling sites between the years 2022 and June 2025.
