ED registers money laundering case against 29 stars for endorsing gambling apps like A23, Lotus365. Promotions misled public, FIRs filed across 5 cities.
HYDERABAD: Today, on July 11, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) took strong legal action by registering an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against 29 individuals.
This includes several well-known actors, television personalities, social media influencers, and YouTubers. They are accused of promoting illegal betting apps that violate the Public Gambling Act, 1867.
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This case follows five separate First Information Reports (FIRs) registered at various police stations in Panjagutta, Miyapur, Cyberabad, Suryapet, and Visakhapatnam.
The ED believes these individuals accepted large sums of money to endorse various online betting platforms, such as Junglee Rummy, A23, JeetWin, Parimatch, Lotus365, and others.
While these platforms claimed to be offering skill-based games, officials suspect they were actually running gambling activities in a hidden way.
The ECIR includes the names of many celebrities and internet personalities. Film actors like Rana Daggubati, Prakash Raj, Vijay Devarakonda, Manchu Lakshmi, Praneetha, and Nidhi Agarwal have been named.
Along with them, TV and media personalities such as Ananya Nagella, Siri Hanumanthu, Sreemukhi, Varshini Sounderajan, Vasanthi Krishnan, Shoba Shetty, Amrutha Chowdary, Nayani Pavani, Neha Pathan, Pandu, Padhmavathi, Imran Khan, Vishnu Priya, and Shyamala are also included in the list.
Additionally, popular digital content creators and YouTubers like Harsha Sai, Bayya Sunny Yadav, Tastyteja, Rithu Chowdhary, Bandaru Sheshayani Supritha, Ajay, Sunny, Sudheer, and the YouTube channel ‘Local Boy Nani’ have been named.
Kiran Goud and the management teams behind these betting platforms are also listed in the ECIR.
According to ED officials, many of these paid promotions were cleverly presented as fun entertainment videos or even as acts of social service. However, behind the scenes, they were reportedly promoting gambling apps that caused huge financial losses to users.
These promotions created confusion among the public and led to several complaints filed with the police. One person filed a police complaint claiming that he lost over Rs 3 crore after being influenced by a YouTube advertisement featuring one of these influencers.
The ED is expected to soon call all the individuals named in the ECIR for questioning regarding their involvement in this suspected money laundering case.
Many of those involved have already made public statements, claiming they had no idea the apps were illegal and unethical. They also said they ended their promotional deals after realizing the seriousness of the issue.
Some individuals who have spoken out said that they had agreed to promote the platforms only because they believed they were legal and related to skill-based games. But once the controversy came to light, they distanced themselves from these apps.
One of the key points of concern is that the content was created in such a way that it was difficult for regular viewers to understand that the platforms being promoted were actually gambling websites.
This made it easier for the platforms to attract a large number of users, many of whom ended up losing money.
With the ED now involved and money laundering charges being considered, the investigation is likely to bring more clarity on how these platforms operated and what role these celebrities and influencers played in promoting them.
The law is clear under the Public Gambling Act, 1867, that promoting or being involved in gambling activities is a punishable offence, especially when public money and trust are at risk.
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