Latest News | ED Attaches MP Man's Assets Worth over Rs 8 Cr in Online Betting App Money Laundering Case

New Delhi, Jan 19 (PTI) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday said it has attached assets worth more than Rs 8 crore of a Madhya Pradesh-based man for laundering money generated through an illegal online betting app that he "masterminded".

Ten immovable properties and five bank accounts of Lokesh Verma alias Raja Verma have been provisionally attached under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the ED said in a statement.

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The total value of these properties is Rs 8.89 crore, it said.

Illegal online betting apps such as Dhangames and others called 'satta matka' apps were being operated in Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and other parts of the country to "lure" people, the agency said.

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"The app allowed users to register via mobile number and transfer money to Dhangames wallet via UPI. The app also indulged in betting.

"Illegal money generated through these apps was laundered through a web of bogus bank accounts opened by Lokesh Verma in the names of dummy persons by misusing their KYC documents to run betting operations," it alleged.

In connivance with others, Verma generated proceeds of crime worth about Rs 25 crore, the ED said.

The money laundering case stems from a charge sheet filed by Madhya Pradesh Police against the accused under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Public Gambling Act, 1867.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)