Bengaluru, Feb 23 (IANS) The Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) Bengaluru Zonal Office filed an additional charge sheet against other accused persons in the Rs 2,300 crore illegal online betting scam involving Congress MLA K.C. Veerendra aka Pappi, an official statement from ED said on Monday.
The ED in a statement said: “A supplementary charge sheet against Pruthvi N Raj, K.C. Thippeswamy, Fonepaisa Payment Solutions Private Limited, Gulshan Khattar, Puppy’s Tours and Travels LLP, Arjun Nagabhushan, Abhijith Sajjan and Logicforge Solutions Private Limited, has been filed with the jurisdictional court, under the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, in a case relating to illegal online betting and gambling activities involving Congress MLA K.C. Veerendra as the main accused.”
The ED initiated the investigation on the basis of multiple FIRs registered by various state police authorities across several states under various Sections of the IPC, 1860, which are scheduled offences under the PMLA.
These FIRs pertain to cheating, impersonation and extortion of the general public through illegal online betting websites, including King567, Play567, Playwin567, Gamexch and other associated platforms.
Subsequent findings have uncovered routing of funds through various payment gateways, mule accounts, foreign entities and virtual digital assets, along with outward remittances.
Earlier, search operations were conducted under the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, at more than 60 locations across Karnataka and other states, resulting in seizure of large quantities of cash, gold bullion, gold and silver jewellery, vehicles, digital devices and incriminating documents.
The ED had earlier arrested MLA Veerendra under Section 19 of the PMLA, and a charge sheet has been filed before the court in Bengaluru city on October 18, 2025, against the Congress MLA.
Through provisional attachment order under Section 5(1) of the PMLA, movable and immovable properties of MLA Veerendra and other accused, totalling to Rs 177.30 crore were provisionally attached.
With this, the ED has attached/seized assets worth more than Rs 320 crore in the present case under the provisions of the PMLA, 2002.
During the course of investigation, proceeds of crime exceeding Rs 2,300 crore have been identified so far, which were generated through illegal online betting and gambling activities and subsequently laundered through multiple layers of transactions.
Further investigation revealed that the above mentioned persons/entities were knowingly involved in the offence of money laundering of proceeds of crime generated from criminal activities relatable to scheduled offences.
Investigation has revealed assets acquired from proceeds of crime outside India, especially in Dubai, by the accused persons and also several transactions in crypto assets.
Further investigation is under progress.
–IANS
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