ED Seizes $204M in Mahadev Betting App Assets

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has escalated its crackdown on the Mahadev online betting app, attaching properties worth ₹1,700 crore (approximately $204 million) in Dubai and New Delhi. The assets are linked to Sourabh Chandrakar, a key promoter of the alleged scam.

The attached properties include 18 luxury properties in Dubai, such as villas and apartments in prime locations like Dubai Hill Estate, Burj Khalifa, Business Bay, and SLS Hotel & Residences. Additionally, two properties in Delhi have been sealed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Chandrakar, who was arrested in the UAE in 2024, is considered the mastermind behind the Mahadev betting app. The properties were held under entities controlled by him and associates including Vikas Chhaparia, Rohit Gulati, Atul Arora, Nitin Tibrewal, and Surendra Bagri. These assets were allegedly acquired using proceeds from illegal online betting operations facilitated by Mahadev Book and other platforms.

This latest seizure brings the total value of movable and immovable assets frozen or seized in connection with the case to approximately ₹4,336 crore.

The ED’s investigation revealed that Mahadev Book operated as a large-scale international betting syndicate, facilitating illegal betting through platforms like Tiger Exchange, Gold365, and Laser247. The operation was controlled from Dubai via a franchise-based network of panels or branches operated by associates across India. Promoters retained 70-75% of the profits, while the remainder was distributed among operators. Funds were laundered through a network of mules and dummy bank accounts, then transferred outside India via hawala channels, cryptocurrency transactions, and complex financial layering mechanisms, before being invested in high-value assets in the UAE and India.

To date, the ED has searched over 175 premises across India in connection with the case, which came to light in October 2023. 13 individuals have been arrested, and 74 have been arraigned as accused in five prosecution complaints. The ED has also filed applications under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018, against Chandrakar, his partner Ravi Uppal, and associates Anil Agrawal, Atul Agrawal, and Shubham Soni, seeking to declare them fugitive economic offenders and seize their assets.

The Mahadev Book case has emerged as one of the most significant illegal betting cases in India, allegedly defrauding investors of ₹20,000 crore, with ₹1,100 crore diverted into the stock market through dummy accounts. The case gained further attention with the alleged involvement of high-profile individuals and raids at properties linked to EaseMyTrip’s Nishant Pitti and Chhattisgarh’s former chief minister Bhupesh Baghel.