The Enforcement Directorate recently raided the premises of Bollywood celebrities' managers in Mumbai and Delhi in the Mahadev App case and seized cash worth ₹2.5 crore.
According to ED sources, these celebrity managers are involved in hiring celebrities to perform at Mahadev App's promoter Saurabh Chandrakar's wedding in February 2023 in Dubai and allegedly receiving hawala money on behalf of the celebrities. The investigation has revealed that these celebrity managers received payment in cash from the event management company and retained 10 percent of the amount as their commission. The remaining funds were handed over to the celebrities. Additionally, they reveal that the event management company arranged for the celebrities' accommodation, flights, and other facilities, covering all the expenses associated with the event.
Close associate of D-company
Chandrakar is a close associate of D-Company and stands as an absconding accused in the Mahadev app money laundering case. In February 2023, Chandrakar hosted a lavish marriage event in Dubai, where he reportedly spent approximately ₹200 crore in cash. During this wedding event, several Bollywood celebrities made appearances and performed. They were paid in cash, and these cash payments were allegedly routed through hawala channels to an event management company, who hired these celebrities for this wedding event.
According to ED sources, the celebrities who attended this event will be summoned soon. ED officials have stated that they will record the statements of these celebrities as witnesses.
ED to summon two actor-comedians next week
According to reliable sources, the ED is likely to summon two comedians to record their statements next week. The probe agency sources have revealed that these two actor-comedians were paid more than 20 lakhs in cash by the event management company to attend and perform at Chandrakar's wedding event
It is alleged that not only these two comedian received lakhs of rupees in cash, but a few bollywood A-Lister Celebrities also allegedly received crores in cash through his manger. Tiger Shroff, Neha Kakkar, Sunny Leone, Nushrat Bharucha, Pulkit Samrat, Krishna Abhishek, Ali Asgar, Vishal Dadlani, Atif Aslam, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Ali Azgar, Elli Avram, Bhagyashree, and Kirti Kharbanda, Bharti Singh and Sunil Grower endorsed the betting entities and performed at their marriage functions in exchange for hefty fees.
A few days back ED conducted the raid on the marriage event planning company, R-1 Events Pvt Ltd, and some other linked event management companies that received a total of ₹112 crore through hawala channels. Additionally, hotel bookings amounting to ₹42 crore were paid for in cash using United Arab Emirates Dirham. ED conducted searches at the premises of R-1 Events Pvt Ltd owner, Yogesh Popat, one Mithilesh, and other linked organizers, resulting in the seizure of unaccounted cash totaling ₹2.37 crore and it was revealed that hawala money was paid to celebrities for appearance and performance at their functions in exchange for hefty fees.
