NEW DELHI, Nov 22: The Enforcement Directorate Friday said it has attached assets worth Rs 1.84 crore as part of a money laundering investigation into an “illegal” betting app syndicate running from Surat in Gujarat.
The case stems from a Surat Police’s Detection of Crime Branch (DCB) FIR filed against accused named Harish alias Kamlesh Jariwala, Rushikesh Adhikar Shinde and Huzefa Kausar Masakarwala.
They were charged by the police with obtaining identity documents of various persons, preparing rent agreements in their names, “forging” signatures of shop owners in such agreements, “misusing” the identity documents for obtaining license of shell firms and opening “dummy” accounts with various banks.
“These dummy accounts were used for the purpose of transferring the funds obtained from illegal betting apps CBTF247.com and T20 EXCHANGE.com.
“Proceeds of crime i.e. the money generated through these betting apps were traced and it has been found that these dummy bank accounts in the names of various fictitious entities have been opened for routing and layering of money generated from betting and other criminal activities,” the ED said.
It was found that a man named Rajesh Lakhani, proprietor of Maitri Enterprises and VC Metals Pvt. Ltd had “received” the proceeds of crime from these dummy bank accounts.
The assets worth Rs 1.84 crore, attached as part of a provisional order issued by the agency under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), are in the name of Lakhani, it said.
The agency has filed a chargesheet in this case in October and has frozen deposits worth Rs 5.67 crore kept in 92 bank accounts when it carried out searches against the accused earlier. (PTI)
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