The MTA Speaks: Why cricketers and film stars are on ED’s radar? Shocking revelations exposed by Manoj Tibrewal Aakash

New Delhi: Many famous stars of the cricket and film world are on the radar of the ED, i.e., the Enforcement Directorate. The reason is the promotion of advertisements related to betting apps banned in India. These stars are accused that, despite the ban in the country, these stars not only have relations with online betting platforms, but they have also made endorsement deals.

Senior journalist Manoj Tibrewal Aakash revealed the staggering scale of India's betting market and its dangerous impact on youth in his special show 'The MTA Speaks'.

First, let's talk about the faces of cricket. These include the names of Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh, and Suresh Raina, while among Bollywood stars, the names of Urvashi Rautela and Sonu Sood are prominent. ED has questioned Urvashi Rautela and Sonu Sood about their relationship and endorsement deals with online betting platforms.

Cricket and Bollywood's relation with betting

Apart from these, the ED has also questioned Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh, and Suresh Raina. ED believes that some betting apps have made deals with Bollywood stars, cricketers, and influencers so that they can gain popularity through promotion. Whereas the government has clearly banned these apps.

In this case, in the month of March, an FIR was registered in Hyderabad against 25 celebrities, including Vijay Deverakonda, Rana Daggubati, Prakash Raj, Manchu Lakshmi, Pranitha, and Nidhi Agarwal. It is written in this FIR that these stars promote illegal and banned betting apps.

A lot of money is invested in this scam. When this matter came to light, South's famous actor Prakash Raj admitted that he had worked in such an advertisement in 2015 but came out of this deal within a year.

Stars clarified

At the same time, the team of 'Rana Naidu' fame Rana Daggubati also clarified that his endorsement deal was under all the laws, and he was not involved in any illegal deal. Urvashi Rautela, and there has been no response from Sonu Sood in this matter so far.

In this case, Bollywood actress and MP Kangana Ranaut had lashed out at these stars. She had said that she too gets such ads many times, but she never becomes a part of illegal ads. She rejects such offers every time.

Why did ED take action?

This action of ED is being taken to know why they are promoting the platforms that have been banned. Which includes One Bet, Fair Play, and Mahadev online betting platforms. This action of the ED is being taken against former cricketers and Bollywood actors regarding this.

Recently, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Kolkata has busted a big online betting and money laundering racket under the Money Laundering Act. To bust this racket, search operations were conducted at many places spread across Delhi, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Assam, including West Bengal. During this operation, a large amount of money was recovered.

Electronic devices and suspicious documents were seized. During this operation, ED froze 766 mule bank accounts and 17 debit and credit cards. Which were being used in the money transactions related to this illegal betting and gambling? ED also arrested two accused named Vishal Bhardwaj, alias Badal Bhardwaj, and Sonu Kumar Thakur under PMLA. Both were produced in a special court in Kolkata, from where they were sent to 10-day ED custody.

Action on Mahadev online betting app

Let us tell you that in April also, the Enforcement Directorate had taken major action in the Mahadev online betting app case. Then the ED had frozen assets worth Rs 573 crore after raiding various locations in this case. The ED raided several locations in Delhi, Mumbai, Indore, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Chennai, and Sambalpur on April 16 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

During this search, the ED seized Rs 3.29 crore in cash. Also, the ED froze securities, bonds, and demat accounts worth more than Rs 573 crore. Along with this, a large amount of objectionable documents and electronic evidence were also recovered.

Betting Businesses

Now let us tell you how big the betting market is in the country. ED estimates that the illegal online betting market in India is more than $100 billion, which is also growing at the rate of 30 percent annually, but a large number of youth are getting addicted to it, and the young generation of the country is ruining their careers by getting trapped in it. The government is worried about this and is strictly tightening the noose on the business of these apps.

The ED investigation is also revealing that the earnings from betting are not only kept in Indian banks but are being hidden through cryptocurrency, hawala channels, and foreign accounts. Many promoters have used cryptos like Bitcoin and USDT. Money is being transported to Dubai, Singapore, and Sri Lanka through hawala networks.

Alarm bell for the financial system

This disclosure is an alarm bell for the financial system of the country. In promoting this illegal business, the role of influencers and web series actors associated with YouTube, Instagram, and OTT is also coming to the fore. All of them are also on the radar of the ED in this scam. There is also news that many medium-level influencers have promoted betting apps for lakhs of rupees.

Not only this, some reality show contestants also shared links to illegal apps from their social media. The easiest victims of these promotions are the youth. Some cases have also come to light in the country where, due to online betting, the youth have committed suicide or have taken the path of crime after drowning in debt.

Last year, more than 12 such cases were reported in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka. Experts believe that it is like a digital drug, whose addiction is very deadly. Now let us tell you how these companies work despite the ban. Actually, these platforms often operate under fake names and bypass the ban through VPNs and mirror sites.

Targeting Youth

To target the youth of different states in the country, these companies run advertisements in Hindi and regional languages. Many of these companies take advantage of legal complexities by calling themselves 'Gaming' or 'Fantasy App.' In some cases, it has also come to light that the servers connected to the backend of these betting apps are being operated from Pakistan, China, and Dubai. This also raises questions on national security because this money can be used in terrorist funding or other illegal activities.