The Enforcement Directorate has moved a special PMLA court in Raipur seeking to "expedite" proceedings to declare extradited Mahadev app promoter Saurabh Chandrakar a fugitive economic offender and confiscate his assets, officials said on Monday.
The federal probe agency has also written to the Union government seeking cancellation of his Vanuatu Passport, which he allegedly obtained in May 2022 soon after leaving India.
Chandrakar, in his 30s, was extradited from Oman and brought back to the country on Sunday.
Officials told PTI that the ED, in November 2024, filed an application before a special court in Raipur to have Chandrakar, along with Mahadev betting app co-promoter Ravi Uppal, declared as named persons under the Fugitive Economic Offender Act (FEOA).
As this case has seen multiple adjournments, the agency filed a fresh application in October before the same Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court seeking an "urgent hearing and expeditious disposal" of this plea against the two accused, officials said.
The court has listed the matter for hearing on December 5, they added.
Officials reasoned that despite Chandrakar being extradited and brought back to India, the ED's FEOA plea against him remains valid as he did not "surrender to the law" but was brought to join the investigation through the agencies' efforts.
Once a person is declared an FEOA, the ED is empowered to confiscate all their main and linked assets.
It has attached properties worth (market value) Rs 1,700 crore in the case against Chandrakar and has also reportedly traced multiple assets in India and abroad, including some benami properties, for confiscation under the FEOA.
The FEOA was brought by the Union government in 2018 to bring to justice individuals who flee India to evade the law after committing fraud involving at least Rs 100 crore.
In the past, businessman Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi have been declared fugitive economic offenders.
The agency has also written to the Union government, understood to be the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), seeking cancellation of Chandrakar's Vanuatu Passport, which he allegedly obtained in May 2022 soon after leaving India for Dubai on February 16, 2022, according to officials.
India does not recognise dual citizenship, and the ED found that he is an Indian citizen by birth and obtained the Vanuatu passport while holding an Indian passport, officials said.
The ED has called Chandrakar the "principal promoter, collector and beneficiary" of the Mahadev betting app and named him as accused no. 1 in the charge sheet filed in October 2023. It has claimed the Mahadev operators had a "nexus" with top politicians and bureaucrats of Chhattisgarh.
Officials said Chandrakar used to work in a juice shop run by his family's company in Bhilai town in Durg district of Chhattisgarh until December 2020 but in the next two years he began running a betting business from Dubai with thousands of employees.
The ED is also sending extradition requests for Mahadev app co-promoter Ravi Uppal who is understood to be in Dubai. The agency has also sought to expedite the FEOA proceedings against Uppal and similarly cancel his Vanuatu passport.
It is also sending an extradition request for Vikash Chhaparia, another accused in the case and alleged funds manager, who is reportedly based in Dubai.
The agency said the Mahadev app, also called Mahadev Online Book (MOB), began operations in 2019-20. Its user base grew "sharply" during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and continued to increase.
The app, which runs through thousands of panels, allegedly generated proceeds of crime worth Rs 80,000 crore since 2019. It ran illegal betting on cricket, football, tennis, card games and other games of chance. The websites were rigged to generate large profits, and a player who won large sums had their user ID blocked, according to the ED.
The agency arrested 14 persons, attached assets worth Rs 1,885 crore, named 116 accused in its six chargesheets and conducted searches on 190 premises across the country in the PMLA case registered in October 2022 based on FIRs and chargesheets filed by the Chhattisgarh Police and the CBI.
(With inputs from PTI)
