New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached assets worth Rs 11.14 crore belonging to former Indian cricketers Suresh Raina and Shikhar Dhawan in connection with a money laundering probe linked to the alleged illegal offshore betting platform 1xBet.
According to the ED, the attachment includes mutual fund investments of Rs 6.64 crore in Raina’s name and an immovable property worth Rs 4.5 crore owned by Dhawan. The action was taken under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), based on multiple FIRs filed by various state police forces against 1xBet operators.
The agency said its probe revealed that 1xBet and its surrogate brands — 1xBat and 1xBat Sporting Lines — were involved in promoting and facilitating unlawful online betting and gambling operations across India. Both Raina and Dhawan allegedly signed endorsement deals with these foreign entities, “knowingly promoting” the brand in exchange for payments routed through offshore intermediaries to obscure the illicit source of funds.
The ED claimed that 1xBet operated in India without authorisation, using surrogate advertising and social media promotions to attract Indian users. The endorsement payments were allegedly layered through complex foreign transactions to conceal the proceeds of crime generated from illegal betting.
The attachment follows a series of search operations, during which investigators found that 1xBet had used over 6,000 ‘mule accounts’ to collect money from Indian bettors, routing the funds through multiple payment gateways without proper KYC verification. Many merchants onboarded on these platforms showed business activities inconsistent with their transactions, pointing to money laundering exceeding Rs 1,000 crore.
The ED has since frozen over 60 bank accounts linked to these payment gateways, blocking more than Rs 4 crore. It has also seized incriminating evidence during the searches.
Advising caution, the agency urged people not to promote or invest in online betting or gambling platforms, warning that anyone knowingly facilitating such activities could face prosecution under the PMLA, 2002, which carries a jail term of up to seven years and attachment of assets derived from such illegal transactions.
The ED also appealed to the public to report any suspected misuse of bank accounts to their banks and local police, noting that illegal betting and gambling contribute to money laundering and the financing of unlawful activities.
