ED questions Suresh Raina for 8 hours in 'illegal' online betting app case

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday questioned former India cricketer Suresh Raina for more than eight hours in an alleged money laundering case linked to an illegal online betting app, official sources said.

Raina (38) was seen interacting with CISF personnel and ED staff outside the agency's office in central Delhi before marking his attendance at around 11 am. He left the agency office around 8 pm.

The federal probe agency recorded Raina's statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) as part of its investigation linked to a sports betting application named 1xBet, the sources said.

Raina, who played 18 Tests, 226 ODIs, and 78 T20Is for India, is understood to have been linked to the app through certain endorsements.

The ED wanted to understand his links with the app, any endorsement fee earned and the mode of communication between the two parties, according to the sources.

The agency recently called representatives of Google and Meta for questioning as part of its probe. It also conducted multi-state searches on Tuesday in connection with a similar investigation against an online betting app named Parimatch.

The agency is probing multiple such cases involving illegal betting apps, which allegedly duped numerous people and investors worth crores of rupees or evaded a huge amount of taxes.

According to estimates by market analysis firms and probe agencies, there are about 22 crore Indian users of various such online betting apps, out of which half (about 11 crore) are regular users.

The online betting app market in India is worth over USD 100 billion, which is growing at a rate of 30 per cent, according to experts.

The government last month told Parliament that it has issued 1,524 orders from 2022 till June 2025 to block online betting and gambling platforms.

Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology, Jitin Prasada, told Lok Sabha in a written reply that the Directorate General of GST Intelligence headquarters is empowered as an appropriate government agency under the Information Technology Act, 2000, and the IGST Act to direct intermediaries to block unregistered online money gaming platforms, including offshore online money gaming platforms, violating the IGST Act.

He said the suppliers of online money gaming are also being regulated under the Integrated Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (IGST Act).

"Under the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution, 'betting and gambling' is a state subject (entry 34 of the List II). Therefore, as per the provisions of Article 246 read with Article 162 of the Constitution, state legislatures have the power to legislate on matters related to betting and gambling," Prasada said.

The minister also said the states and Union territories are primarily responsible for prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of crimes, including action against illegal betting and gambling.

"The Central government supplements the efforts of the states/Union territories through advisories and financial assistance under various schemes for capacity building of their LEA," Prasada said.