The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested Ebix Chairman Vikas Garg in connection with its money laundering probe linked to the Mahadev online betting app case. Garg was arrested from his residence in Delhi and produced before a special court, which granted the agency 24-hour custody to take him to Raipur in Chhattisgarh where the investigation is taking place.
The arrest comes weeks after the ED provisionally attached properties worth Rs 940.77 crore belonging to Garg, his family members, and entities allegedly owned or controlled by him. The attached assets include residential properties, land parcels, equity shares and other securities. The attachment forms part of the ongoing money laundering investigation into the Mahadev Online Book / Skyexchange illegal online betting case.
The agency has alleged that proceeds generated through the illegal betting app were routed into these entities and then layered through multiple companies. The funds were allegedly used for acquiring shares, securities and other assets. Garg is the promoter of three listed companies — Vikas Ecotech Limited, Vikas Lifecare Limited and Eraaya Lifespaces Limited.
During the investigation, the ED found that Garg had allegedly acquired a 64% stake in EbixCash through Eraaya Lifespaces Limited using funds suspected to have been generated from illegal betting. The ED initiated its probe based on an FIR registered by the Chhattisgarh Police in Durg, along with several other FIRs registered in Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and other states.
The investigation has found that the betting syndicate allegedly operated through a franchise-based panel network run from abroad and generated proceeds of crime of more than Rs 450 crore per month through illegal betting operations. The probe has also revealed that the proceeds of crime generated from Mahadev Online Book and Skyexchange were allegedly laundered through a multi-layered structure of accommodation entries arranged against cash.
