FairPlay case: ED arrests 2 linked with illegal betting operations during IPL | Mumbai News – The Times of India
MUMBAI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested two people, Chirag Shah and Chintan Shah, in connection with a money laundering investigation linked to the FairPlay app case.
The allegations state that FairPlay conducted unauthorised online broadcasts of cricket-IPL matches for betting purposes. The ED said that private financial services firms had facilitated illegal payout services to users of FairPlay. FairPlay allegedly collected funds from its users through mule and dummy bank accounts, which were then layered and circulated through multiple intermediary dummy/mule accounts.
The ED discovered that the illegal betting app had changed its modus operandi and was using fintech firms to evade investigating agencies. Previously, these illegal gaming apps paid back their users through shell firms they operated.
However, after the ED exposed the Mahadev Online Book gaming-betting group companies last year, they altered their approach by hiring professional companies that handled payments through established payment gateways for FairPlay clients.
This case involves the illegal broadcasting of IPL matches and the acceptance of bets on the recently concluded Lok Sabha election results. FairPlay, a subsidiary of the Mahadev group, is accused of siphoning off the money it generated through illegal betting abroad with the help of book entry operators and over 400 accounts opened in the names of shell companies. The app was promoted by many celebrities.
The ED registered a money laundering case against FairPlay for illegally streaming IPL matches last year, causing a loss of over Rs 100 crore to the Viacom18 group. The money laundering case is based on an FIR registered by the Maharashtra cyber police following a complaint by Viacom18. The cyber police are also conducting a parallel investigation into the case.
In the complaint, Viacom18 named eight companies along with seven other online apps for illegally streaming its content. The streaming rights for the IPL matches belonged to Viacom18, as they were pay-to-watch and subscription-based.
However, FairPlay streamed these matches on its website and illegally accepted bets from its users.
