Meta, Google officials fail to depose before ED; called again on July 28

New Delhi: Executives of tech giants Meta and Google did not depose before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) as scheduled on Monday and have now been given fresh summons for July 28 in a money laundering case linked to promotion of "illegal" online betting and gambling platforms, official sources said.

It is understood that the representatives of the two companies sought deferment of the July 21 summons, saying they need time to collect relevant information and documents before they present themselves for questioning and recording of their statements at the federal probe agency.

Sources said the executives have been given a one-week extension and asked to depose on July 28.

Once they depose, their statements will be recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the sources said.

There was no immediate response from the two companies.

The federal agency is probing multiple platforms hosting illegal betting and gambling links, including instances of advertisements placed for them on various Internet-based social media outlets and app stores.

The tech giants are understood to have been called by the ED to understand how such illegal platforms can place advertisements on their social media and communication links.

Some actors, celebrities and sports persons are also under the scanner of the agency in these cases, and they are also expected to depose before the ED.

The ED has said illegal online betting and gambling platforms were cheating innocent people of their hard-earned money, and also laundering and evading taxes worth crores of rupees.

It is investigating more than a dozen big cases linked to illegal gambling and betting platforms across the country, including the Mahadev Online Book (MOB) ap,p whose main promoters hail from Chhattisgarh.