ED Freezes ₹7.9 Crore Worth of Assets of Bollywood Stars, Cricketers in Betting Scandal
Image Source: Internet
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached assets worth ₹7.9 crore belonging to Bollywood stars Urvashi Rautela, Sonu Sood, and Neha Sharma, as well as cricketers Yuvraj Singh and Robin Uthappa, and ex-TMC MP Mimi Chakraborty. The move is linked to a money laundering case involving an illegal betting app, estimated to be worth over ₹1,000 crore. According to official sources, the ED initiated the investigation after multiple FIRs were registered by state police agencies against the operators of the offshore betting platform 1xBet. The agency found that 1xBet and its associated brands promoted and facilitated online betting and gambling operations across India. The attached assets include ₹2.5 crore worth of properties belonging to Yuvraj Singh, ₹1 crore of Sonu Sood, and ₹2.02 crore of Urvashi Rautela's mother, among others. The ED investigation revealed that the celebrities knowingly endorsed the betting app through foreign entities, receiving payments that were routed through foreign entities to conceal the illicit origin of the funds. The ED stated that these endorsements were made in return for payments linked to Proceeds of Crime (POC) generated from illegal betting activities. The investigation is ongoing, and further details are expected to emerge in the coming days.
