The Ahmedabad Zonal office of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on December 10 and 12 conducted search operations at 21 locations in Delhi, Mumbai, and Pune under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The searches were conducted as part of the ongoing probe against “Magicwin” which was allegedly involved in the illegal broadcasting of Cricket Men’s T20 World Cup matches and various alleged online betting activities.
During the course of the search operations, bank funds to the tune of Rs 30 lakh were frozen and various other “incriminating documents & digital devices” were seized, the ED said in a statement.
The agency had initiated its investigation on the basis of an FIR registered by the Cybercrime police station in Ahmedabad against Magicwin and others. It has conducted 68 searches to date in this case and has seized various incriminating documents and digital devices. The total seizure/freezing in this case as of now stands at Rs 3.55 crore.
The investigation “revealed” that Magicwin allegedly is a betting website disguised as a gaming platform owned by Pakistan nationals. The operations of this website are allegedly mostly handled by Indian nationals working or settled in Dubai.
The statement added that the betting games shown on the website are played in the Philippines and other countries which allow betting activities. However, the same is re-telecasted on the Magicwin website by copying the APIs of the original games. The betting activities, such as deposits, the placing of bets, and withdrawals, are however controlled by the owners of Magicwin, the ED alleged.
The statement from the ED claimed that during the investigation, it found that money deposited in the bank accounts reflected on the Magicwin website by the players/betters was diverted through various layers of shell/mule bank accounts. Further, the owners’ profits are allegedly invested in crypto assets, withdrawn in cash, or sent to Dubai through Hawala Channels.
Further, the winning amounts of the players/betters are allegedly transferred to their respective bank accounts through merchant accounts of various shell companies maintained with the payment Gateways/Aggregators. The winning amounts are also allegedly transferred to the player’s bank account through Domestic Money Transfer (DMT).
The ED further said it found that Magicwin had “hosted a launch party” in India wherein several B-town celebrities allegedly attended and endorsed the website. These celebrities also allegedly did video and photo shoots for the advertisement of Magicwin and allegedly promoted the same on their social media accounts. Advertisements were also done through hoardings out of home (OOH) in various parts of India including Gujarat and Maharashtra. The profits generated by this betting website are more than 50% of the total deposits made by the players, the ED said.
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