Mahadev Betting Probe: ED Moves Court To Declare Key Operatives Soni And Agrawal As Fugitive Economic Offenders

Mumbai: In a fresh move in the Mahadev online betting probe, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has approached a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Raipur seeking to declare alleged Mahadev network operatives Shubham Soni and Anil Kumar Agrawal alias Atul Agrawal as Fugitive Economic Offenders (FEOs) under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018. The agency has also sought confiscation of their properties in India and abroad.

The plea was filed before the 6th Additional District Judge and Special Court (PMLA), Raipur, under Sections 4 and 12 of the Act. The ED submitted that both accused have left India, are believed to be residing in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and have deliberately evaded investigation despite repeated summons, arrest warrants and lookout circulars.

The same court has reserved orders on a similar plea against alleged Mahadev Online Book promoters Saurabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal as FEOs.

A declaration under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018 empowers agencies to confiscate the properties of an economic offender who has left India to avoid criminal prosecution. Once declared FEO, the designated court can order attachment and confiscation of all properties owned by the accused, including assets held directly or through benami entities, without waiting for the trial to conclude.

The ED’s action stems from a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) FIR registered in January 2025 consolidating multiple cases linked to the Mahadev Online Book platform, following nearly 77 FIRs lodged earlier by the Economic Offences Wing(EOW) in Chhattisgarh and police authorities in Maharashtra, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh. Investigators have alleged that the network operated multiple betting panels and franchises, used fake and mule bank accounts to park proceeds of crime, and routed funds abroad through hawala channels.The illegal betting operations are suspected to have generated proceeds running into hundreds of crores of rupees.

According to the ED, Soni and Agrawal were key operators of the mahadev betting network who ignored multiple summons issued in 2023 and failed to appear before the investigating agency even after being named in a prosecution complaint in January 2024. Non-bailable warrants were issued against them in September 2024. Immigration records cited in the application show that Soni left for Dubai in February 2023 and Agrawal in August 2022. The agency has alleged that both are deliberately remaining outside India to evade criminal prosecution.Look-out circulars were also issued against them.

Investigators have described Soni as one of the key promoters of the Mahadev betting network, alleging that he took operational decisions related to the platform’s infrastructure and oversaw the movement of illicit funds. The ED has claimed that material collected during the investigation indicates he played a role in routing a substantial portion of the proceeds generated from the alleged illegal betting activities as “protection payments” to certain officials and politicians, purportedly to ensure that the operations continued without legal or administrative impediments.

The ED has described Agrawal as heading the technical operations of the betting ecosystem, alleging that he designed and managed betting websites, supervised the platform interface, added gaming modules, and facilitated the movement of proceeds through hawala channels. The agency claimed that beyond his technical role, he also handled asset management within the Mahadev syndicate, overseeing the routing of betting-generated funds to associates and their investment in properties and businesses. The ED informed the court that Agrawal held nearly a 49 per cent stake in a Dubai-based trading company and allegedly purchased real estate worth about AED 45 million (around Rs 95 crore) in 2022. It further alleged that he transferred illegally earned funds from the Mahadev Online Book operations to his brother, Amit Kumar Aggarwal through hawala networks,and that evidence shows such funds were invested in properties in India. Amit Kumar Aggarwal has also been named as an accused in the case.

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According to the ED, proceeds from the betting operations were deposited into hundreds of commission-based bank accounts, transferred abroad through layered transactions, and routed via hawala operators. Some funds were allegedly invested in shell companies, stock market instruments and cryptocurrency. The financial probe agency has also claimed that large sums were spent on promotional events and advertising campaigns for the betting platforms.

The ED has requested the special court to issue a statutory notice requiring both accused to appear within the legally mandated period of at least six weeks. Officials said that failure to comply could lead to their declaration as FEOs, paving the way for confiscation of proceeds of crime and attachment of additional domestic and overseas assets.Once declared fugitives, the individuals could lose legal ownership rights over the properties identified by authorities.

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