HYDERABAD: ‘Casino operator’ Praveen Chikoti, who is being investigated for alleged FEMA violations, on Wednesday told the media that he was being targeted by a group of people and was receiving threatening calls, ordering him to reveal some specific names.“I received threatening calls -- two calls from a local number and one from an international number. To my surprise, I was not threatened to not disclose names of any bigwigs to the ED during my questioning. On the contrary, the caller wanted me to name a certain political leader from the ruling party. I am unaware of the caller or their identity, I also see someone coming close to my residence for a recce. As a precaution, I have filed a writ petition in the High Court,” Chikoti told the media.
It may be mentioned here that after sleuths raided the offices and residences of Chikoti and Madhava Reddy, the ED summoned them for questioning, which went for four days. When asked about the allegations of FEMA violations, Chikoti said that he has fully cooperated with the investigation and submitted all documents sought by the ED. “I have organised ‘casinos’ on international waters or in countries where gambling is legal,” he said.
When asked, Chikoti said that reports that he paid huge amounts to Bollywood stars who promoted his casino events were simply not true. “Stars from Bollywood were approached to promote the casinos and it is not wrong. Just like the soap and toothpaste manufacturers use familiar faces to promote their products, I also paid certain amounts in Goa for them for promotions and no hawala transactions took place,” he said.Meanwhile, ED officials are collating the information given by Chikoti and Madhava Reddy and verifying his statements with technical details like the bank statements and messages on WhatsApp groups.