Bengaluru: The cumulative seizures in the illegal betting scam of the proceeds of crime involving the Congress MLA K.C. Veerendra and other accused has crossed Rs 100 crore, according to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday.
The official statement released in this regard said, “The Bengaluru Zonal Office of the Enforcement Directorate has carried out searches on September 6 in Challekere under the provisions of PMLA, 2002, in the case of Congress MLA K.C. Veerendra and others related to cheating people in connection with illegal online betting.”
“During the searches, 24 carat gold bullion weighing 21.43 kg, 11 units of gold coated silver bars weighing 10.985 kg and gold jewellery around nearly 1 kg, valued at around Rs 24 crore, were seized.”
“After considering this seizure, cumulative seizure of proceeds of crime in this case crossed Rs 100 crore as on date. The searches and tracing of proceeds of crime in this case, have been undertaken during the ED custody of prime accused and Chitradurga MLA, K.C. Veerendra,” the ED said.
“Earlier, on September 4, the ED obtained a four-day extension of custody. The extension was granted by the Special Court for People’s Representatives on basis of documentary evidences linking him to generation and laundering of proceeds of crime, allowing the agency to continue its investigation into the said case,” the ED added.
Further investigation has revealed that the accused is running several online betting sites in the name of King567, Raja567, Lion567, Play567, Playwin567, etc.
It has also been revealed that several gateways have been used for routing payments collected through these websites, according to the ED.
The ED investigation revealed that MLA Veerendra, his family members and aides have booked several international travel tickets worth crores of rupees, financed through a network of mule accounts linked to proceeds from online betting websites, the ED investigation has said.
The evidences suggest that the funds used for these high-value transactions were diverted from illicit online activities and funnelled through multiple intermediary accounts to obscure their origin, the ED added.
The ED has unearthed that several high-end luxury vehicles allegedly used by MLA Veerendra and his family, are registered under names of different individuals/entities.
Few of these are — MERCEDES-BENZ GLS 400 D 4MATIC bearing no. KA55P0003 registered in the name of one M/s ABH Infrastructures of Anil Gowda and a Range Rover bearing no. KA45N0003 funded by one Gulshan Khattar of Fonepaisa.
Further investigation is under progress.
(IANS)
