The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has announced that the total value of properties attached, seized, and frozen in the Mahadev Online Book and others illegal betting operations case has reached approximately ₹3,800 crore. The ED’s Raipur Zonal Office attached movable and immovable properties worth ₹941 crore belonging to businessman Vikas Garg, his family members, and entities linked to him under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002. The attached properties include residential properties, land parcels, equity shares, and other securities.
This attachment is part of the ongoing money laundering investigation in the Mahadev Online Book/Skyexchange illegal online betting case. The ED official stated that this is in addition to the movable and immovable properties worth ₹2,825 crore, including foreign assets, that had been attached/seized/frozen in this case earlier. The latest seizures come a day after the ED’s counsel revealed that Saurabh Chandrakar, the alleged kingpin of the Mahadev betting scam, was traced to Oman, and efforts are underway to extradite him.
The investigation revealed that the betting syndicate operated through a franchise-based panel network run from abroad, generating more than ₹450 crore per month from illegal betting operations. The proceeds of crime 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 (approx.) of the Mahadev Online Book/Skyexchange betting operations were routed into the entities owned and controlled by Vikas Garg.
The said funds were further layered through various entities and were utilized, inter alia, for acquisition of shares, securities, and other assets.
