ED conducts multi-state raids in case against 'illegal' betting app

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday conducted multi-state searches as part of a money laundering investigation into the operations of an "illegal" betting app that is alleged to have duped people to the tune of Rs 2,000 crore, official sources said.

At least 15 premises in Mumbai, Delhi-NCR, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Madurai (Tamil Nadu) and Surat (Gujarat) are being searched in the case against the app (application) named Parimatch, the sources said.

The ED case, filed under sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), stems from a 2024 FIR filed by the Mumbai cyber police.


Preliminary investigation shows that the funds were collected from "duped" users in mule accounts (used by criminals to launder illicit funds) and these were layered through multiple payment aggregators and domestic money transfer agents. The alleged illicit funds identified are worth about Rs 2,000 crore, the sources said.

This amount was then "layered" and sent through crypto wallets, cash withdrawals through ATMs located in a single locality in a Tamil Nadu city, low value UPI transfers, etc., they said.

The federal probe agency has recovered some documents, mobiles and computer peripherals in the searches till now, as per the sources.