Mahadev Betting Scam: ED Arrests 2 More Accused, Probe Finds Manipulation Of Stocks

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested two more individuals, Girish Talreja and Suraj Chokhani, as part of its probe in the Mahadev betting app scam.

In a statement, the probe agency said that ED Raipur arrested Girish Talreja on March 2 and Suraj Chokhani on March 3 under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.

“The arrested accused were produced before the Hon’ble PMLA Special Court, Raipur who has granted the accused person to ED Custody for 7 days till 11 March, 2024,” it said.

The ED said it launched its investigation in the matter based on FIRs filed by the Chhattisgarh Police. Subsequently, FIRs registered by the Visakhapatnam Police and other states were also incorporated into the probe. 

The agency described Mahadev online book betting app as an umbrella syndicate facilitating online platforms for illegal betting websites to onboard new users, establish user IDs, and engage in money laundering through a complex network of benami bank accounts. 

Through its investigations, the ED said it uncovered that Talreja has a stake in the operations of Lotus365, which is identified as a sister concern of Mahadev Online Book. Talreja, it claimed, is a partner of Sourabh Chandrakar, a key accused in the Mahadev betting scam, in the illegal operations of Lotus365.

“Search u/s 17 of PMLA, 2002 was conducted on 01.03.2024 at multiple locations across Kolkata, Haryana, Delhi, MP, Maharashtra and Goa, which also included the branches of Lotus365 being operated from Pune, Maharashtra. It was revealed that around INR 50 Cr betting cash was being handled by this branch per month. Girish Talreja was found to be one of the members of the “cash handling WhatsApp group” of this branch. As a result of the search, INR 1 Cr in cash was seized,” the agency said.

Meanwhile, the statement said that Hari Shankar Tibrewal, who allegedly collaborated with the promoters of Mahadev Online Book in illegal betting activities associated with the website ‘skyexchange’, employed Chokhani to launder and conceal the proceeds of crime by disguising them as share investments in Indian companies.

“Searches at the premises of the associates of Hari Shankar Tibrewal including Suraj Chokhani in Kolkata had revealed that the majority of source for these investments has been collected by way of receiving bank entries against cash in these companies and utilising the proceeds for investment in share market,” the ED said.

As of February 29, the Indian companies under control of associates of Tibrewal held securities worth about INR 580 Cr in the stock market. The foreign entities where the proceeds were transferred also invested in India via the FPI route and were found to be holding securities worth INR 606 Cr, the ED claimed.

It alleged that Tibrewal was also involved in manipulation of the stock market in collusion with the promoters of the listed companies.

“Hari Shankar Tibrewal, using his immense capital, used to create temporary fluctuations in share prices, driving them upwards, and then withdraw funds once the prices reached a desirable level,” the statement said.

The arrests are part of the ED’s extensive probe in the matter. Prior to this, it arrested nine accused in the case.

The Mahadev scam gained attention following Chandrakar’s opulent wedding in Dubai in February 2023, allegedly costing north of INR 200 Cr. The wedding saw performances by the likes of Vishal Dadlani, Tiger Shroff, Sunny Leone, Neha Kakkar, Nushrratt Bharuccha, and many others.

Seven months later, the ED began its crackdown and announced that it unearthed the Mahadev app online betting scam. The agency also questioned multiple Bollywood celebrities in the case. In January this year, it filed a chargesheet in a special court in Raipur following its probe.

Update: Some changes have been made to the story.