ED send the legal notices to Google and Meta for linked with betting apps money laundering case. Representatives from each company summoned to appear at company Delhi headquarters on 21 July. Google and Meta platforms are promoting betting apps through classified ads and facilitating their reach to customers.
The ED is analyzing the role of those digital platforms in allowing the advertising of illegal apps that is currently under research for violations of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Why ED send summons to Google
The notices to Meta and Google send after the ED searched 4 locations in Mumbai in a prime dabba trading and online betting case. ED seize ₹3.3 crore in unaccounted cash together with luxurious cars, jewelry, foreign currency and cash counting machines during raids.
The company is engaged into the financial and operational activities of “dabba trading apps” involved in illegal trading and betting, which includes systems together with VMoney, VM Trading, Standard Trades Ltd, IBull Capital Ltd, LotusBook, 11Starss, and GameBetLeague.
FIR registered against companies led ED Investigation
The ED’s PMLA probe is based on an FIR registered against Google at Lasudiya Police Station in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, on 9 January under Sections 319(2) and 318(4) of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita (formerly IPC Sections 419 and 420).
Investigations have found out that Vishal Agnihotri, the owner of VMoney and 11Starss, obtained admin rights of the LotusBook betting platform on a 5 % income-sharing arrangement. He later transferred those rights to Dhaval Devraj Jain, retaining a 0.125 % share while Jain held 4.875 %.
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