Bengaluru: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) provisionally attached assets worth Rs 177.3 crore on Thursday under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 in the case relating to illegal online betting and gambling involving Congress MLA K.C. Veerendra and his associates. The ED has also identified Proceeds of Crime (PoC) worth Rs 2,300 crore.
According to the official statement by the ED, Bengaluru Zonal Office, “On the basis of material evidence gathered during investigation, ED has provisionally attached assets held directly by MLA Veerendra, which are reasonably believed to be Proceeds of Crime and properties involved in money laundering. With this, the ED attached assets worth more than Rs 320 crore in the present case under the provisions of PMLA.
“Further, during the course of investigation, proceeds of crime exceeding Rs 2,300 crore have been identified so far, which were generated through illegal online betting and gambling activities and subsequently laundered through multiple layers of transactions.”
The attached assets include immovable properties including agricultural land and residential sites along with other movable assets.
The statement says, the attachment order has been issued, whereby assets worth Rs 177.3 crore have been provisionally attached.
The ED investigation was on the basis of multiple FIRs registered by the police across several states under different Sections of the IPC, which are Scheduled Offences under the PMLA.
These FIRs pertain to cheating, impersonation and extortion through illegal online betting websites, including king567 and other associated platforms. Subsequent findings have uncovered that Veerendra and his associates are the masterminds behind a nationwide illegal online betting network operating through the same modus operandi, the ED said.
The investigation has established that the accused generated substantial proceeds of crime by duping the public through these online betting scams. In the scheme, unsuspecting players were induced to stake money on rigged illegal gaming websites which were in the nature of online casinos; their deposits running into crores of rupees were collected via the payment gateways into designated payment aggregator accounts.
The victims were initially shown fake winnings to build trust, and then eventually blocked from withdrawals. Investigation has revealed use of hundreds of mule accounts and several payment gateways for laundering Proceeds of Crime, the ED said.
Earlier, the ED has conducted extensive search and seizure operations across more than 60 premises in several states under Section 17 of PMLA, during which large quantities of cash, gold bullion, gold and silver jewels, vehicles, digital devices and incriminating documents were seized.
ED also arrested Veerendra under Section 19 of the PMLA and a prosecution complaint has been filed before the Special Court (PMLA).
Investigation is ongoing to trace remaining proceeds of crime and identify all beneficiaries involved.
(IANS)
