BHUBANESWAR: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Crime Branch has arrested the promoter of 18football.com, a betting/gaming application, for allegedly cheating investors of crores on the promise of providing them higher returns on their deposited amounts.
A native of Kabisuryanagar in Ganjam district, accused Jitendra Mallick was nabbed from Bengaluru on June 4, and brought to Odisha on June 9, EOW officials said. He has been taken on a four-day police remand for questioning.
The agency had registered a case in this connection in 2023 after over 800 investors in Ganjam district alleged they were duped on the promise of being provided lucrative returns on investing in the app.
Investigation revealed Mallick was responsible for promoting and publicising the 18football.com app in Ganjam and other parts of Odisha. “He had enrolled many new investors and lured them to invest in the app. The accused had also organised meetings at different hotels in Berhampur, Bhubaneswar and other places,” EOW officials said.
The agency also traced Mallick’s links with foreign national George Enzo, who was promoting 18football.com on WhatsApp and Telegram. “About `21.05 lakh was credited to Mallick’s bank account by the down line members. The verification of his other accounts is continuing,” said an EOW officer.
The masterminds of the scam operated multiple shell companies/firms to transfer the ill-gotten money. They used mule accounts for multi-layering of transactions to hoodwink the investigators. So far, EOW has frozen `1.25 crore stashed in different bank accounts.
EOW said it was a pan-India scam and running into more than `1,000 crore. Transactions amounting to `446 crore have already been traced. The agency had earlier arrested four persons from West Bengal, Rajasthan and Kerala in connection with the case.
The Bureau of Immigration (BoI) had issued a look out circular against MD Sheik Saif, a Dubai based operator/promoter of 18football.com. It was run online as a football betting/gaming application.