The empire of the accused of the betting app Mahadev

ED claims Saurabh Chandrakar got married in UAE, for which Rs 200 crore in cash was spent

New Delhi:

Even as Indian authorities prepare to likely receive Saurabh Chandrakar, one of the main promoters of the Mahadev betting app, sources told NDTV how the money was moved, the extent of the nexus involved in the operation of the application and the titular role of two Brothers based in Chhattisgarh.

According to sources, Chandrakar’s formal arrest in Dubai was based on an arrest warrant issued by Interpol in a money laundering and fraud case. Chandrakar and another app promoter, Ravi Uppal, were arrested and placed under house arrest in Dubai late last year, following a request from the Enforcement Directorate (ED ) requesting the issuance of a red notice (RN) against them.

Chandrakar and co-promoter Ravil Uppal hailed from Bhilai in Chhattisgarh, but operated the Mahadev betting app from Dubai. When he lived in his hometown, the former ran a fruit juice store. He would have left for Dubai in 2019.

After launching the app, the duo opened call centers in major cities across Malaysia, Thailand, UAE and India, through which various subsidiary apps were created to facilitate online betting . In Chhattisgarh and other Indian states, around 30 call centers were functioning with the help of two people, identified as Sunil Damani and Anil Damani, both close associates of Chandrakar and Uppal.

The investigation by the ED revealed that thousands of millions of dollars were cheated through the betting app, sources said.

The financial trail of a deep link

Chandrakar and Uppal, along with police, bureaucrats and politicians, have established a nexus to run the app and manage its revenue in India.

With the help of the Damanis, a large number of Benami bank accounts were opened. Anil Damani was tasked with re-routing hawala money to pay police, politicians and bureaucrats to avoid coming under the scanner.

Money was also sent to Chandra Bhushan Verma, assistant sub-inspector of Chhattisgarh Police, for the same purpose. He was in direct touch with Vinod Verma, the political advisor to the Chhattisgarh CM, with whose support he headed the union of police, bureaucrats and politicians.

The Damanis also sent large sums of money to UAE promoters via hawala.

During interrogation, Anil Damani said that over the last 2-3 years, Sunil Damani and he had carried out transactions to the tune of Rs 60-65 crore through hawala at the behest of Uppal, while he had received Rs 6 lakh. He added that they sell the hawala ring in their jewelry store.

Call detail records show that the Damanis were in constant contact with Chandrakar and Uppal.

Satish Chandrakar, who was arrested in this case by the ED, ran four call centers and had a five per cent stake. He too was responsible for supervising illegal financial transactions. Probe also revealed that Satish Chandrakar was also linked to gangster and drug don Tapan Sarkar, who is on the run in this case.

The projected proceeds of crime in this case are around Rs 6,000 crore, according to the ED.

The Bollywood connection

The ED has alleged in its chargesheet that Chandrakar got married in Ras Al Khaimah, UAE in February 2023 and around Rs 200 crore ‘cash’ was spent on the event.

Around 17 Hindi cinema celebrities and Chandrakar’s relatives were flown in by charter flights. The celebrities also performed at the wedding and reportedly received millions of rupees in return through hawala.

Additionally, actor Ranbir Kapoor was accused of promoting a sports app linked to online betting app Mahadev. Thus, all actors present at the wedding were included in the scope of the investigation.