The ED has asked Ranbir Kapoor to appear at the agency’s office in Raipur, Chhattisgarh on October 6. (PTI/File)
Mahadev app case: Ranbir Kapoor may not be part of the conspiracy, but is very important to understand the scam, ED sources told
Actor Ranbir Kapoor has been summoned for questioning in the Mahadev money-laundering case not as an accused, but to understand his knowledge of the source of money he received to promote the betting app, sources in the Enforcement Directorate told .
The ED has asked Ranbir Kapoor to appear at the agency’s office in Raipur, Chhattisgarh on October 6. Around 14-15 other celebrities and actors are under the ED’s scanner in the case and they will also be reportedly summoned soon.
“Ranbir Kapoor has been summoned to understand the betting business transactions. At this point, he has not been summoned as accused. His questioning is important to know his knowledge about the money sources he received. It will possibly indicate the plans of the promoters and their association,” a source said.
“Ranbir Kapoor may not be part of conspiracy but very important to understand the scam,” the source added.
The company promoted by Sourabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal was being operated from Dubai. It was allegedly using the online book betting application to enrol new users, create IDs and launder money through a layered web of benami bank accounts.
An investigation into 28-year-old Sourabh Chandrakar was prompted by his lavish Rs 250-crore wedding in the UAE, following which investigators stumbled upon the details of alleged hawala operations and their connections in the UAE and Pakistan. Around eight major international hawala operators are under the scanner for laundering money to Middle East countries and to Pakistan by running a similar portal. Chandrakar and his associates allegedly used at least 70 shell companies to launder money to offshore accounts.
Sources in the ED has earlier told that as many as 17 Bollywood celebrities, including Shradha Kapoor, Tiger Shroff, Sonakshi Sinha and others, are under the scanner for attending or performing at Chandrakar’s wedding in February this year and the company’s success party in September last year.
“The celebrities accepted a huge amount of cash as remuneration for attending or performing at the wedding. The money is proceeds of the crime and the celebrities are liable for taking the money. There are more than a dozen celebrities who participated in the wedding and they are seen in the videos,” a senior source in the ED had said.
The Mahadev betting apps have different games, lotteries and betting options for everything under the sun, including the prediction of election results, weather, matches etc. These have been operational for the past four years. The online app, like other Ponzi schemes, targeted the lower income group. The games, the lotteries and betting options were all rigged where the ‘players’ always lost money and the company gained.
Chandrakar, whose company allegedly gained around Rs 5,000 crore through the scam, started as a juice-seller in Chhattisgarh. His educational qualification is still unknown. A raid at the residence of Vinod Verma, political advisor to Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, blew the lid off the former’s alleged connections with the betting company, another source in the ED had told .
