ED raids 21 locations in Delhi, Mumbai, Pune over Pakistan nationals' betting app under PMLA
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday announced that it had carried out fresh raids at 21 locations in Delhi, Mumbai, and Pune under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). These actions were conducted as part of an ongoing investigation into operatives linked to an 'unlawful' betting website.
The website, reportedly owned by Pakistani nationals, was also involved in the illegal broadcasting of Men's T20 Cricket World Cup matches.
In an ‘X’ post through its official handle, the ED confirmed that its teams from Ahmedabad conducted searches between December 10 and 12 in the case against the portal named ‘Magicwin’.
“During the searches, bank funds, to the tune of Rs 30 lakh approximately, were frozen along with various other incriminating documents and digital devices that have been seized under provisions of the PMLA,” it said.
The ED’s case, under provisions of the PMLA in the matter, is based on an FIR registered by the cybercrime unit of the Ahmedabad Police in Gujarat.
The ED has identified Magicwin as a “betting” website, which is “guised” as a gaming portal and is “actually owned” by Pakistani nationals. The operations of this website are mostly handled by Indian nationals working or settled in Dubai.
“The betting games being shown on the website are originally played in the Philippines and other countries, which allow betting activities,” said a senior official, adding that investigations revealed that the same is “re-telecasted” on Magicwin’s website by copying the APIs (application programming interface) of the original games.
He said betting activities like deposits, placing of bets, and withdrawals are “controlled” by the “owners” of Magicwin.
The official said the agency’s investigation has also found that the money deposited in the bank accounts by the players/bettors was “diverted” through layers of “shell and mule” bank accounts. Furthermore, the profit portion of the owners “was invested in crypto assets, withdrawn in cash, or sent to Dubai through Hawala channels”.
“The winning amounts of the players/bettors were transferred to their bank accounts through merchant accounts of various shell companies maintained with payment gateways. These amounts were also transferred to the players' bank accounts through Domestic Money Transfer (DMT),” the official said.
A “launch party” for the portal, where several “B-town celebrities” attended and endorsed Magicwin, is also under the scanner of the agency, the official added.
“These celebrities also did video and photo shoots for Magicwin and posted them on their social media accounts for its “promotion”. Advertisements were also done through hoardings out of home (OOH) in various parts of India, including Gujarat and Maharashtra,” the official said, quoting the ED’s findings while adding that the profits generated have been more than 50 percent of the total deposits made by the players.
The official said that ED personnel have conducted as many as 68 searches in this case so far and have seized funds and assets worth a total of Rs 3.55 crore.