'Looted Rs 94,000cr': CBI arrests Mahadev app key accused deported from UAE

Abhishek Kumar coordinated various panels in the Mahadev network

NEW DELHI: CBI on Thursday arrested Abhishek Kumar, a key accused in the Mahadev online betting and gambling case in which Enforcement Directorate (ED) has claimed that the perpetrators of the illegal activities have so far generated and laundered proceeds of crime of more than Rs 94,000 crore.Kumar was deported from the UAE and taken into custody by CBI immediately after he arrived at Hyderabad airport from Dubai. He was close to main accused Saurabh Chandrakar and Shubham Soni - both continue to operate the gambling network from the UAE and other jurisdictions.Kumar coordinated various panels in the Mahadev network and was responsible for collecting funds and acquiring immovable assets in Dubai out of ill-gotten proceeds of crime, a CBI spokesperson said.

He has been taken to Raipur and produced before a special court for police remand. So far, seven Red Corner Notices and two extradition requests have been pending against other accused.The Mahadev online betting and gambling app is still active and proceeds of crime of Rs 94,000 crore have been generated so far by the accused, who are in Dubai, ED has said in its latest chargesheet in the case. More than Rs 1,000 crore has been invested in Indian share markets through foreign portfolio investments (FPIs), the agency said.

It estimated that in the last few years, the accused generated more than Rs 11,000 crore annually from illegal online gambling and betting activities.Based on analysis of various seized digital evidence and statements of several accused, ED said that "it can be estimated that proceeds of crime worth Rs 11,400 crore (approx) must have been generated by illegal operations of Mahadev online book every year". The gambling network has been running since 2019.

"As per latest findings, Mahadev app is still running a huge number of panels. Estimated proceeds of crime generated by the app is around Rs 75,000-80,000 crore during the last seven years," ED has said. In addition, it said other illegal apps run by the syndicate like Skyexchange.com and Lotus365.com have generated proceeds of crime of over Rs 14,000 crore."A majority of the proceeds of crime was layered and transferred to the promoters based in Dubai," ED stated.The agency has so far attached assets worth over Rs 2,000 crore linked to various accused. The agency said the above estimation of proceeds of crime is only a provisional figure and is likely to go up.