Why Bollywood is in trouble over Mahadev betting app case

The Mahadev betting app case continues to unravel and Bollywood is at the centre of it. Several celebs, including Ranbir Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor, Huma Qureshi, Kapil Sharma have been asked to join the probe. While some were part of the kingpin’s wedding, others reportedly promoted the app

Ranbir Kapoor, Huma Qureshi, Kapil Sharma, Hina Khan, Shraddha Kapoor. This isn’t the cast of a new ensemble Bollywood film, but the names of those celebs who have summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection to the Mahadev betting app case.

Ranbir has been summoned to the ED office in Raipur today (6 October). Even Shraddha is expected to appear before the ED on Friday. It was reported earlier that the Kapoor scion had asked for two weeks’ time before appearing in front of the agency. However, there’s no clarification if the authorities had granted his request.

As the case widens, and more celebs come under the scanner – the officials are looking at summoning even more of B-Town folk – we take a closer look at what is the Mahadev betting app case and how celebs are connected to it.

The Mahadev betting app scandal

Before we dive into Bollywood’s link to the case, let’s understand what the matter is all about.

According to investigating officials, the gaming app, called the Mahadev Online Book , provides a platform for illegal betting games like poker, card games, chance games, and sports like cricket, tennis and football. People can also bet on elections in the country. It also allows people to play games like Teen Patti, poker, “Dragon Tiger” and virtual cricket.

Those who run the app, called panel owners, make a profit of Rs 200 crore, reports NDTV.

They advertise the contact number of Mahadev Online Book on websites, luring people to play games to earn profit. Once people click on the ad, they are requested to contact specific WhatsApp numbers. “Once a user contacts this number, he will be provided two separate numbers. One is for depositing money and collecting points in user IDs used to make bets. The second is for contacting the website to encash accumulated points in designated IDs,” an ED source told The Print.

These IDs are created on different platforms such as laser247.com, laserbook247.com, betbhai.com, betbook247.com, tigerexch247.com, and cricketbet9.com “depending on the need and preference of the bettors”.

The panel owners collect money, create user IDs, distribute the ID credentials, and distribute any money earned.

The players have to deposit money in benami accounts, which are shared online after which they are assigned panels by the head office, which is based out of Dubai. The payouts are also done from benami accounts, which are opened fraudulently.

All the games are reportedly fixed so that the owners don’t make losses. The officials in their investigation found that while users made initial profits, they began losing huge sums in the long run.

And who’s behind this entire master plan? ED officials have said that Sourabh Chandrakar, 28, and Ravi Uppal, 43 , are the main promoters of Mahadev Online Book. Hailing from Chhattisgarh’s Bhilai, the duo is based in Dubai from where they allegedly run operations of the platform.

It has been reported that it was Chandrakar’s Rs 200-crore wedding in February that attracted the ED’s attention. The promoter of the betting app tied the knot in Ras Al-Khaimah and spared no expense for the event.

He hired a Mumbai-based events company to organise the extravagant affair and even flew down members of his family in private jets.

Moreover, celebrities such as Tiger Shroff, Sunny Leone, Bhagyashree, Vishal Dadlani, Atif Aslam, Neha Kakkar, Ali Asgar, Bharti Singh, Bhagyashree, Pulkit Samrat, Elli Avram, and Rahat Fateh Ali Khan were called for the event.

The ED says that of the Rs 200 crore that was spent, Rs 100 crore went to the Malad-based company and it was all paid in cash, which is how they were alerted to it.

The ED in its 15 September statement had said: “In February 2023, Sourabh Chandrakar got married at RAK, UAE, and for this marriage ceremony, the promoters of Mahadev app spent around Rs 200 crore in cash.”

“Private jets were hired to ferry family members from Nagpur to UAE. Celebrities were hired to perform in the marriage. Wedding planners, dancers, decorators etc were hired from Mumbai and hawala channels were used to make payments in cash,” the agency said.

B-Town’s link to Mahadev app

The question many are now asking is how are B-Town celebs are connected to the app?

According to officials, Ranbir Kapoor has been asked to provide information on the knowledge he had on the source of the money he was being provided with to promote the app.

ED officials have said that Ranbir endorsed the betting platform and was paid for it with the money reportedly coming from the collections through the scam.

According to reports, the Brahmastra actor is said to be among the highest-paid celebs who were paid by the app promoters. Even social media ads and advertisements for the Mahadev app have featured him.

On Thursday (6 October), the officials widened their probe and summoned Kapil Sharma and Huma Qureshi and Hina Khan on different dates to provide information about the mode and flow of payment allegedly done to them by the promoters of the app.

Shraddha Kapoor, Ranbir’s co-actor in Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar, has also been asked to appear before the ED officials after she allegedly promoted the app. Officials believe that she too was paid through benami and hawala channels.

Besides these celebs, the ED has their eyes on another 14 of them as well as 100 other influencers who attended Chandrakar’s wedding in February.

The ED has clarified that the celebs are not being summoned in the case as accused but to understand how the app functioned and earned crores of rupees and funnelled money through illegal means.

The authorities have conducted searches at 39 locations so far across Raipur, Bhopal, Mumbai, and Kolkata and seized illegal assets worth Rs 417 crore.

It is left to be seen what the celebrities reveal about the app to the officials, but what has become clear through the probe so far is that the scale of the operation is across India. As one ED source told The Print, “The scale is huge. We are still not able to identify how much money has been made and laundered till now.”

With inputs from agencies