ED summons cricketer Shikhar Dhawan in money laundering probe linked to betting app
The ED will record Dhawan's statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
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Former India cricketer Shikhar Dhawan has been summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for questioning as part of a money laundering investigation. The probe is connected to an alleged illegal betting application called 1xBet, as per reports.
The ED will record Dhawan's statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The 39-year-old former cricketer is believed to have been associated with the app through various endorsements, and the agency wants to understand the nature of his links.
This is not the first time a former cricketer has been questioned in this case. Last month, Suresh Raina, aged 38, was also interrogated by the ED for over eight hours regarding his own alleged endorsements of the same betting app.
The ED is currently investigating multiple cases involving illegal betting apps that are suspected of defrauding people and investors of significant amounts of money and evading taxes. As part of their broader investigation, the agency recently questioned representatives from Google and Meta. They also conducted searches in several states in a similar case involving another online betting app, Parimatch.
According to market analysis firms and investigative agencies, the online betting app market in India is estimated to be worth over $100 billion and is growing at a rate of 30%. It's believed that out of approximately 22 crore Indian users of these apps, about half are regular users.
