Congress MLA Veerendra Puppy, associates laundered Rs 2,300 crore, says ED chargesheet

The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) on Monday said that Karnataka Congress MLA Veerendra Puppy and his associates laundered Rs 2,300 crore in a case relating to illegal online betting and gambling activities.
The Bengaluru Zonal Office of ED stated that it filed a supplementary chargesheet on February 20 against the MLA’s associates — Pruthvi N Raj, K C Thippeswamy, Gulshan Khattar, Arjun Nagabhushan, and Abhijith Sajjan — and private establishments such as Fonepaisa Payment Solutions, Puppy’s Tours and Travels LLP, and Logicforge Solutions, under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002
The ED’s case against Veerendra stems from a case registered by the Harohalli police in the Bengaluru South district by a marketing executive at a private firm who filed a cheating complaint against online betting app Betin Exchange, the payment gateway Fonepaisa, and two other private firms. The complainant had reportedly lost Rs 30,000 through online gambling.
On August 22 and 23 last year, the ED searched 31 locations linked to K C Veerendra, the Chitradurga MLA of the Congress party, and his brothers and associates.
The ED arrested Veerendra in Gangtok, Sikkim, on August 23. Later, multiple FIRs were registered for cheating, impersonation, and extortion of the public through illegal online betting websites, including King567, Play567, Playwin567, Gamexch, and other associated platforms.
Subsequent findings have uncovered routing of funds through various payment gateways, mule accounts, foreign entities, and virtual digital assets, along with outward remittances.
The ED, during the course of the investigation, has attached multiple properties worth several crores. It said that Proceeds of Crime (PoC) 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.
Investigation has unearthed assets acquired from PoC outside India, especially in Dubai, by the accused persons, and also several transactions in crypto assets, ED said.