ED Seizes Rs 18 Cr, luxury cars in raids on MLA’s international betting racket

ED arrests MLA KC Veerendra, seizes ₹18cr in cash/gold, freezes 17 accounts. Raids expose Dubai-linked betting sites King567 & Raja567 operating as money laundering front. MLA was allegedly leasing a Gangtok casino when arrested. Probe reveals extensive illegal gaming network.

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested Karnataka's Chitradurga MLA KC Veerendra (alias Pappy) in a major crackdown on a major international racket of online gaming and betting. The action has been taken under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and is related to the recently enacted online gaming laws.

The ED team conducted simultaneous raids at a total of 31 locations, including Bengaluru, Chitradurga, Mumbai, Goa, and Gangtok, including five major casinos in Goa—Pappy's Casino Gold, Ocean Rivers Casino, Pappy's Casino Pride, Ocean 7 Casino, and Big Daddy Casino.

During these raids, the ED recovered cash worth Rs 12 crore (including foreign currency worth Rs 1 crore), gold worth Rs 6 crore, 10 kg of silver, and 4 luxury cars. Also, the agency immediately froze 17 bank accounts and 2 lockers.

The investigation revealed that the MLA and his brother were running online betting sites, King567 and Raja567, through which huge amounts of illegal money were being earned.

These sites were being operated through three Dubai-based companies—Diamond Softech, TRS Technologies, and Prime9 Technologies—which were actually part of a complex money laundering network.

In this racket, money laundering was being done on a large scale to show illegally earned money as legitimate. MLA Veerendra was arrested when he had gone to Gangtok to lease a casino. The ED came to know that they were preparing to open a new casino there on the pretext of a business trip.

After arresting them, they have been taken to Bengaluru on transit remand, where they will be produced in court. ED has also found many important documents and digital records during the raid, which reveals the entire chain of this big money laundering network.

The agency is now investigating how this illegal money earned from betting was invested in various businesses, properties, and other investments. More big revelations are likely in this case, and the investigation is ongoing.

This case shows how online gaming platforms were being used for illegal activities on a large scale, and this network was active despite legal provisions. Stay tuned to Dynamite News for further updates.