Mahadev betting app case: ED arrests bizman Vikas Garg in ₹6000 crore money laundering probe

THe Enforcement board of directors (ED) on tues arrested man of affairs Vikas Garg in link with its money laundering dig into in the ₹6,000 crore Mahadev online betting racket, agency officials said.Garg, officials said, was arrested under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act or PMLA after searches at his premises in Delhi. He was produced before a special court and is being taken to Raipur. This is the 14th arrest in the case; five charge sheets filed so far before a special PMLA court in Raipur has named 74 entities as accused.ED last week said in a statement that it attached assets of ₹940 crore belonging to Garg and his family members, adding that its investigation found that an equivalent amount generated from online betting operations linked to the case were routed to entities owned and controlled by Garg.Also Read I Calcutta HC seeks details from ED on TMC’s frozen bank accountsThe proceeds of the illegal bettting operations of Mahadev Online Book and Skyexchange (a Dubai-based paltform), run by Sourabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal, were laundered through shell entities and layered transactions, the statement said.“The ill-gotten money from betting app routed into the entities owned and controlled by Vikas Garg were further layered through various entities and were utilised, inter alia, for acquisition of shares, securities and other assets”, an officer of the agency said on condition of anonymity Tuesday. “Garg is the promoter of three listed entities, namely Vikas Ecotech Limited, Vikas Lifecare Limited, and Eraaya Lifespaces Limited. It has been found that he acquired a 64% stake in EbixCash through Eraaya Lifespaces Limited by utilizing ill-gotten funds allegedly generated from illegal betting activities,” the officer added.Also Read I ED summons TMC MLA Madan Mitra's wife, two sons in municipal recruitment ‘scam’EbixCash is a forex and remittance platform that was acquired in 2004 by BSE-listed Eraaya as part of its acquisition of US-based Ebix Inc, a provider of on-demand software and e-commerce services, which had filed for bankruptcy. In a 30 August 2024 press release, Eraaya cited an enterprise value of ₹3,009 crores for the acquisition of Ebix and its global subsidiaries through a bankruptcy court auction. Eraaya, earlier known as Tobu Enterprises and Justride Enterprises, subsequently changed its name to Ebix Limited.In a June 23 disclosure to BSE, Ebix Ltd had said it had been informed of a provisional attachment order by ED under PMLA regarding proceedings involving certain foreign entities and foreign portfolio investors that had invested in the securities of the company. “It is clarified neither the company nor its promoters have been alleged to have committed any predicate offence in relation to the said proceedings,” the disclosure said.HT emailed the company seeking a comment but had not received a response as of going to print.ED launched its probe into the Mahadev betting app in 2022 based on FIRs registered by police in Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal .The illegal betting operations allowed people to place illegal bets on poker and other card games, games of chance, cricket, badminton, tennis and football matches, even election outcomes.Also Read I ED arrests businessman Vikas Garg in Mahadev, Skyexchange probeChandrakar, who is believed to be in his early 30s, set-up the betting empire along with co-founder Ravi Uppal. The duo fled to Dubai sometime in 2019 and their network still allegedly runs betting apps and websites from there.Chandrakar was detained in Muscat last month and ED is in the process of sending an extradition request against him. As exclusively reported by HT on November 4, 2025, Uppal went missing from the UAE after authorities there decided to close extradition proceedings against him.ED has previously said that the alleged proceeds of crime in this case is around ₹6,000 crore and involves various high-ranking politicians and bureaucrats from Chhattisgarh.