NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) has revealed that alleged online betting website ‘Magicwin’ owned by Pakistani nationals has earned profits that were more than 50 percent of the total deposits made by the betting players.
A source said that the agency sleuths have so far found that the total amounts of more than Rs 1,000 crore were allegedly rerouted to promoters’ accounts through merchant accounts of various shell companies maintained with payment gateways/aggregators. The amounts are also allegedly transferred though domestic money transfer, he added.
“The agency has so far seized more than 50 bogus companies and over 100 fake bank accounts and it is estimated that the total scam amounts to the tune of more than Rs 1,000 crore,” the source said.
Earlier, the ED sleuths conducted searches at 21 locations in Mumbai, Pune and Delhi as part of its probe. The alleged betting site is accused of illegally broadcasting the cricket Men’ T20 World Cup matches.
The ED has registered its case on the basis of an FIR registered by Cyber Crime police, Ahmedabad. “It was revealed that the website is allegedly operated from Dubai but is owned by Pakistani nationals,” the source said, adding that the betting games allegedly shown on the website was actually played in Philippines and other countries, where betting activities are legal.
“Bank funds, to the tune of `30 lakh approximately, were frozen along with various other incriminating documents and digital devices that have been seized under provisions of the PMLA,” the ED said.
A senior ED official said that betting activities like deposits, placing of bets, and withdrawals are “controlled” by the “owners” of Magicwin base in Dubai and Pakistan.
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 said.