New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate has attached assets belonging to former Indian cricketers Yuvraj Singh and Robin Uthappa, actor Sonu Sood, former Trinamool Congress MP Mimi Chakraborty and several other celebrities in connection with a money-laundering probe linked to an alleged illegal betting app, official sources said on Friday.
The action has been taken under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act in a case related to the betting platform 1xbet, which investigators estimate involves illicit transactions exceeding Rs 1,000 crore. According to sources, the ED has provisionally attached properties of multiple individuals after examining their alleged financial links with the app.
The attached assets include properties worth around Rs 2.5 crore belonging to Yuvraj Singh and Rs 8.26 lakh linked to Robin Uthappa. Assets worth approximately Rs 1 crore of actor Sonu Sood and Rs 59 lakh of former MP and actor Mimi Chakraborty have also been attached. In addition, properties of actor Neha Sharma valued at Rs 1.26 crore, assets worth Rs 47 lakh of Bengali actor Ankush Hazra, and properties amounting to Rs 2.02 crore linked to the mother of model Urvashi Rautela have been provisionally seized.
Sources said all the attached assets have been categorised as “proceeds of crime” under the PMLA, alleging that the funds were generated through promotional and other activities connected to the illegal betting app. The platform is reportedly registered in Curacao and has been under the ED’s scanner for suspected violations of Indian laws.
The celebrities whose assets have been attached were questioned earlier during the course of the investigation, officials said. The agency is examining whether the individuals received payments linked to the betting platform in return for promotional activities or other associations.
Earlier in the same investigation, the ED had attached assets worth Rs 11.14 crore belonging to former Indian cricketers Shikhar Dhawan and Suresh Raina. The probe is ongoing, and officials indicated that further action could follow as the investigation progresses.
