NEW DELHI: Former Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh on Tuesday appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and recorded his statement under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in a case inked to an online betting app named 1xBet, officials said.
The cricketer appeared before the agency investigators along with his legal team, as he was quizzed about his association with the app, nature of contract, and whether he knew about the illegality among others, the officials said, adding that the ED in it investigation has been trying to find out if the money paid to celebrities was part of the proceeds of crime.
An influencer named Anveshi Jain also appeared before the ED for questioning in the same case. The ED has already questioned former cricketers Suresh Raina, Shikhar Dhawan and Robin Uthappa, apart from former TMC MP and actor Mimi Chakraborty and Bengali actor Ankush Hazra, over the past few weeks in the case. Actor Sonu Sood has been summoned for Wednesday by the ED in the same case.
A few more sportspersons, movie actors, online influencers and celebrities are expected to be questioned by the agency in the coming days as part of this probe.
The investigation into the operations of the 1xBet betting app is part of the ED’s wider probe against such platforms on allegations of duping several people of crores of rupees and reportedly evading a huge amount of direct and indirect taxes.
According to the Curacao-registered 1xBet, it is a globally recognised bookmaker with 18 years in the betting industry. The brand's customers can place bets on thousands of sporting events, with the company’s website and app available in 70 languages, as per the information available on its official website.
According to the officials, the ED may also soon initiate the process to attach assets of individuals, in this case who are found using the alleged proceeds of crime generated from the promotional activities of the app. A chargesheet will be filed subsequently before a court, they said.
The ED’s line of probe, according to sources, is to know from the celebrities as to how they were contacted by the said betting company seeking their endorsement, the nodal person(s) for contact in India, the mode of payment (cash through hawala or banking channel) and place of the payment (in India or abroad), etc.