NEW DELHI: With some celebrities, including former cricketers and filmstars, not appearing despite summonses being issued to them in connection with alleged laundering of illegal proceeds of 1xBet online betting platform, ED is considering attaching properties of those linked to cases in which money trails have been established.ED likely to name celebrities as accused for endorsing illegal betting ED is also likely to soon file a chargesheet in the case, wherein these celebrities may also be named as accused for endorsing illegal activities, sources said. On Sept 24, actor Sonu Sood had appeared before ED at its headquarters for questioning in connection with his alleged association with the 1xBet online betting syndicate. Earlier, cricketers Suresh Raina, Shikhar Dhawan, Robin Utthappa and Yuvraj Singh, and actor and ex-TMC MP Mimi Chakraborty had appeared before the agency and recorded their statements regarding fees received for endorsing illegal betting activities. Actor Urvashi Rautela, who missed the summons issued to her, has been asked to appear for questioning in the same case. The agency is probing the promoters and associates of 1xBet for illegally running a betting and gambling racket in the country and siphoning the proceeds of crime out of India. Attachment of assets in foreign countries is also likely where the agency has found trails of proceeds of crime. Earlier, in the case of Fairplay, another illegal betting app, the enforcement agency had attached assets worth over Rs 307 crore in Dubai, including land, villas and bank balances, linked to the accused. Fairplay was allegedly involved in illegal broadcast of cricket matches, besides online gambling. Among several FIRs registered against Fairplay, one by Viacom18 Media Pvt Ltd in Mumbai accused the betting app of causing loss of revenue of more than Rs 100 crore by illegally broadcasting cricket matches.
