Illegal broadcasting of cricket matches: ED arrests two people connected to Fairplay

MUMBAI: ED arrests brothers Chirag and Chintan Shah in Fairplay money laundering probe linked to illegal cricket broadcasts and 2024 election betting.

MUMBAI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has made its first arrests in connection with its money laundering investigation against online betting platform Fairplay and a few other applications for their alleged involvement in the illegal broadcast of cricket matches in 2023 and enabling betting on the 2024 Lok Sabha election results.

Illegal broadcasting of cricket matches: ED arrests two people connected to Fairplay

The arrested accused were identified as Chirag Shah and Chintan Shah, two brothers who allegedly used to supervise the Fairplay app’s technological aspects and software development, said ED officials, requesting anonymity.

The two men were arrested late on Wednesday night after their interrogation at the ED’s south Mumbai office. They came under the agency’s scanner after its investigation revealed that Fairplay was being operated primarily by a man identified as KL Shah from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, officials said. A special court for cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on Thursday remanded the two arrested accused to the ED’s custody till February 15.

The ED’s investigation has revealed that KL Shah allegedly registered multiple firms, such as Play Ventures N.V and Dutch Antilles Management N.V in Curacao (a Dutch Caribbean island where betting is legal), Fair Play Sport LLC and Fairplay Management DMCC in Dubai, and Play Ventures Holding Limited in Malta (another betting haven), to conduct Fairplay’s operations, according to ED officials.

KL Shah and his associates allegedly acquired various movable and immovable assets from the proceeds of crime, either in their own names or in the names of their family members and relatives, officials added.

The agency had initiated the money laundering investigation based on an FIR registered by Maharashtra cyber police in April 2023 against Dubai-based Fairplay Sport LLC and others. The FIR was based on a complaint filed by a representative of broadcaster Viacom18 Media Pvt Ltd, which alleged that the accused entities had caused the company a loss of over ₹100 crore by illegally broadcasting cricket matches.

The ED also found that Fairplay had allegedly made agreements through foreign entities based in Dubai and Curacao with Indian agencies representing celebrities. These agencies allegedly did not do due diligence before executing the agreements to promote the platform.

According to ED officials, Fairplay allegedly collected its funds through a complex web of over 400 bank accounts belonging to shell companies, and pharmaceutical firms involved in bogus billing. The funds from such firms were siphoned off to overseas shell entities operating from Hong Kong and Dubai. Two fintech firms then allegedly facilitated the payouts to Fairplay users, officials added.

Fairplay allegedly systematically collected funds from its users through mule and dummy bank accounts, which were subsequently layered and circulated through multiple intermediary dummy bank accounts. These funds were then allegedly transferred to the bank accounts of the multiple firms registered by KL Shah to execute illegal payouts to users.

To facilitate the illegal payouts, the said firms allegedly received commissions that their controllers—KL Shah and his associates—utilised to acquire immovable properties, including flats and commercial properties, either in their own names or in the names of related persons and entities. The ED has so far attached and seized assets worth around ₹344.15 crore in the case.