ED arrests 2 in PMLA case against betting portal

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate has arrested two persons in a money laundering case against a website that allegedly indulged in online betting of 2024 Lok Sabha election results apart from illegal broadcast of IPL cricket matches, agency sources said on Thursday.

Chirag Shah and Chintan Shah, who took care of technological and software development aspects of Fairplay, were taken into custody in Mumbai under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the sources said.

The central agency had earlier said that Fairplay was involved in "illegal broadcasting of cricket/IPL matches and various online betting activities including results of Lok Sabha Elections 2024." The money laundering case stems from an FIR of the Mumbai Police cyber cell which was filed on the complaint of Viacom18 Media Pvt Limited against Fairplay Sport LLC and others for causing loss of revenue of more than Rs 100 crore.

Investigations revealed that Krish Laxmichand Shah (the key person behind Fairplay) registered various companies such as Play Ventures N.V and Dutch Antilles Management N.V at Curacao, Fair Play Sport LLC and Fairplay Management DMCC at Dubai and Play Ventures Holding Limited at Malta for the operations of 'Fairplay', the ED had said.

Fairplay is primarily being operated by Krish Laxmichand Shah from Dubai with the help of his associates such as Siddhant Shankaran Iyer alias Joe Paul, who managed financial aspects of Fairplay and Chirag Shah and Chintan Shah who took care of its technological and software development aspects, the agency had alleged.

Krish Laxmichand Shah and his associates "acquired" movable and immovable assets from the "proceeds of crime" either in their names or in the name of their relatives or family members, the ED said.

Assets worth Rs 331 crore were attached by the ED in this case earlier.