Betting firm FairPlay hoodwinks authorities by using payment gateway to disburse winnings; ED raids 9 places

The anti-money laundering agency discovered the modus-operandi of misusing of payment gateway in betting after it recently carried out a search operation in Gujarat where 20 places were raided and it was found that Rs 800 crore were sent by allegedly misusing the payment gateway within 15 days.

A list of winners, their bank account details and their winning amount is prepared for disbursement of money won and then the money is distributed via payment gateway, agency sources said.

ED is already probing “unauthorised” streaming of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 matches on the Fairplay app and various online betting activities including results of Lok Sabha polls.

ED’s crackdown on the betting platform company came after the registration of an PMLA case against the accused company. The said PMLA case is based on the FIR registered by Maharashtra Nodal Cyber Police, Mumbai on the complaint of Viacom18 Media Pvt Limited.

It is suspected that Fairplay is a subsidiary of Mahadev online betting app, which is already under the law enforcement agency’s scanner for various other irregularities.

During the past search operations, movable assets like cash, bank funds, demat account holdings and luxury watches to the tune of Rs 8 crore were seized or frozen, and various other incriminating documents and digital devices were seized.

Earlier, the agency had stated that the money laundering investigation had revealed that Fairplay made agreements through entities in Dubai and Curacao with Indian agencies representing celebrities. “It was found that no due diligence was performed by Indian agencies regarding Fairplay before executing the agreements for its promotion,” ED had stated.

The agency may also summon for inquiry some Bollywood celebrities who were allegedly linked to Fairplay for its promotion mainly during IPL 2023.

Investigation conducted till date revealed that Fairplay collected funds through various bogus/shell bank accounts which in turn were layered through complex web of bank accounts of shell entities and were then accumulated in pharma companies involved in bogus billing.

Funds from these companies have been siphoned off to overseas shell entities based out of Hong Kong SAR, China and Dubai, the agency said.