ED chargesheets EaseMyTrip promoter in Mahadev betting app case, seeks to confiscate shares

The Enforcement Directorate has chargesheeted EaseMyTrip promoter Nishant Pitti in the alleged Rs 5,000-crore Mahadev online betting app money laundering case, accusing him of “facilitating” the movement of proceeds from illegal betting into the equity market under the guise of foreign portfolio investments, officials have said. Pitti told that he was “neither aware of any chargesheet nor been summoned by the jurisdictional court”.
The chargesheet, filed before a Raipur court on September 10, is the sixth in the case.
The Mahadev betting app case relates to an alleged illegal online betting network operated through a network of websites and apps, with the ED investigating the generation and laundering of betting proceeds. The agency has alleged that the proceeds were routed through a complex network of shell entities, benami accounts and other channels before being invested or used to acquire assets.
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While submitting its latest chargesheet, the ED said it had provisionally attached Pitti’s DEMAT shares worth Rs 59.6 crore under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The attachment order was issued when the ED filed its chargesheet, officials said.
The ED also sought the court’s permission to “confiscate” the shares, describing them as “proceeds of crime” under the anti-money laundering law, officials said.
Pitti told he had “nothing to say on the matter”.
“I have always cooperated with and shall continue to cooperate with all law enforcement bodies. I shall submit detailed evidence to establish my bona fide conduct, in accordance with the procedure prescribed by law,” he said.
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So far, the ED has arrested 14 people and attached assets worth Rs 1,885 crore. Police sources claim the racket is still operational, “although under different names”.
The Raipur Zonal Office of the ED issued a Provisional Attachment Order (PAO) on March 24 this year, attaching 20 immovable properties — including 18 in Dubai and two in New Delhi.
“The foreign assets are located in prime areas of Dubai. Some of the attached properties are also located in Burj Khalifa,” the ED said in a statement in March this year.




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