Betting App cases: ED sends notices to Google, Meta; calls them for questioning on July 21

New Delhi, July 19 (IANS) Taking on tech giants for allegedly promoting online betting Apps which are under probe for serious financial crimes, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday sent notices to tech giants Google and Meta, summoning them for questioning on July 21.

The notices were sent in connection with an ED investigation into online betting App cases, currently under investigation for financial crimes, including money laundering and hawala transactions.

The regulator alleged that these tech platforms provided prominent advertising slots and allowed websites linked to these online betting platforms to gain visibility on their respective platforms, thereby contributing to the widespread reach of these illicit operations.

Google and Meta have been summoned by the ED for questioning on July 21, accusing them of promoting online betting Apps, according to the ED notice.

ED is closely investigating a large network of online betting Apps. Many of these Apps are actually promoting illicit betting by calling themselves 'skill based games’ while actually engaging in illegal gambling.

These platforms are believed to have generated illicit funds worth crores of rupees, often routed through hawala channels to avoid detection.

Last week, the ED booked 29 celebrities in Telugu states for endorsing betting Apps. The central agency filed an ECIR against 29 actors, influencers, and YouTubers for allegedly promoting illegal betting platforms, in violation of the Public Gambling Act, 1867.

The probe, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, has been taken up based on five FIRs filed in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

Film actors Vijay Deverakonda, Rana Daggubati, Prakash Raj, Nidhi Agarwal, Pranitha Subhash and Manchu Lakshmi, and Ananya Nagella are among those who have been booked by the ED.

The names of TV actors, TV hosts and social media influencers like Sreemukhi, Shyamala, and Varshini Sounderajan, Vasanthi Krishnan, Shoba Shetty, Amrutha Chowdary, Nayani Pavani, Neha Pathan, Pandu, Padhmavathi, Harsha Sai and Bayya Sunny Yadav also figure in the list.

The ED suspects endorsements of platforms like Junglee Rummy, A23, JeetWin, Parimatch, Lotus365, and others involved in laundering of large sums through paid promotions.

In March, Vijay Deverakonda, Rana Daggubati, Prakash Raj and others were booked by Cyberabad police for allegedly promoting betting Apps. They, however, clarified that they were not promoting any illegal App.

--IANS

na/rad