The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday said it had attached movable and immovable assets worth ₹940.77 crore linked to businessman Vikas Garg, his family members and businesses allegedly owned or controlled by him as part of its investigation into the Mahadev Online Book and Skyexchange illegal betting operations.
The attached assets comprise residential properties, land parcels, equity shares and other securities. The agency said the latest attachment has raised the total value of properties attached, seized and frozen in the case to nearly ₹3,800 crore.
The action was taken by the ED's Raipur zonal office through a Provisional Attachment Order issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
The latest move is part of the ED's ongoing money laundering probe into the alleged illegal online betting networks operated through Mahadev Online Book and Skyexchange.
The ED initiated the investigation based on a First Information Report (FIR) registered by the Chhattisgarh Police, along with other FIRs registered by police authorities in Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal against the operators, promoters and associates of the alleged illegal online betting platforms. The FIRs include allegations of criminal conspiracy, cheating and forgery.
What did the ED say?
ED said its investigation revealed that “the betting syndicate operates through a franchise-based 'panel' network run from abroad and was generating proceeds of crime of more than ₹450 crore per month from illegal betting operations.”
The agency further stated that the proceeds of crime generated from the illegal betting operations of Mahadev Online Book and Skyexchange were laundered through a “multi-layered structure of accommodation entries arranged against cash through a web of shell entities and other layered transactions designed to project the tainted funds as untainted”.
“Investigation revealed that proceeds of crime aggregating ₹940.77 crore (approximately) of the Mahadev Online Book and Skyexchange betting operations were, in this manner, routed into the entities owned and controlled by Vikas Garg,” the agency said in a statement.
"The funds were further layered through various entities and were utilised, inter alia, for the acquisition of shares, securities and other assets."
The agency said it had previously issued seven provisional attachment orders and filed prosecution complaints, along with supplementary complaints, before the Special PMLA Court in Raipur, which has taken cognisance of the money laundering case.
Before this fresh attachment, the ED had already attached, seized or frozen movable and immovable assets worth around ₹2,825 crore, including properties located overseas, as part of the investigation.
