Cricketer Robin Uthappa appears before ED in online betting app case

NEW DELHI: Former Indian cricketer Robin Uthappa appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday for questioning in a money laundering case linked to an online betting app, officials said.

Uthappa (39) reached the agency’s office here around 11 am.

The ED will question him and record his statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in a case linked to a platform named 1xBet, the officials said.The brand’s customers can place bets on thousands of sporting events, with the company’s website and app available in 70 languages.

Some other sportspersons, movie actors, online influencers and celebrities are expected to be questioned by the agency in the coming days as part of this probe.

The ED’s line of investigation, according to the sources, is to know from the celebrities as to how they were contacted by the said betting company seeking their endorsement, the nodal person(s) for contact in India, the mode of payment (cash through hawala or banking channel) and the place of the payment (in India or abroad) etc.It has also asked them to furnish a copy of their contracts and all relevant email and paper documentation made by them with 1xBet.

The agency is also looking at the end use of the money taken by the celebrities to check if any of them can be categorised as the “proceeds of crime” under the PMLA, as per the sources.

The federal probe agencyFormer cricketer Yuvraj Singh and actor Sonu Sood have been summoned for Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively by the ED in the same case.

The probe pertains to the operations of the 1xBet betting app as part of the ED’s wider probe against such platforms on allegations of duping numerous people and investors worth crores of rupees and reportedly evading a huge amount of direct and indirect taxes.