An Enforcement Directorate (ED) investigation revealed that Saurabh Chandrakar had invested heavily in the betting website Skyexchange. His allegedly close associate and partner in the venture, Hari Shankar Tibrewal, is currently absconding.
Tibrewal, recently identified as a key player of Mahadev betting app. Tibrewal operated Skyexchange, and accused of laundering substantial funds earned from the Skyexchange betting site into the stock market through eight Indian companies.
These dummy companies, under the directorship of Tibrewal's close associate and Indian partner, Suraj Chokhani, allegedly diverted a staggering ₹423 crore (as of February 29) to stock portfolios on the instructions of Tibrewal.
Hari Shankar Tibrewal |
Suraj Chokhani |
The dummy company involved in laundering the Skyexchange betting money to the stock market is
1-M/S Ability Games Private Limited, with a present value of portfolio in stocks of RS - 74,64,37,093.
2-M/S Brillinant Investment Consultants Private Limited with a present value of portfolio in stocks of RS - 45,80,74446.30
3-M/S Discovery buildcon private Limited with a present value of portfolio in stocks of RS - 31,55,09,483.07
4-M/S Forest Vincom Private Limited with a present value of portfolio in stocks of RS - 41,58,40,033.85
5-M/S Swarnabhoomi vanijya Private Limited with a present value of portfolio in stocks of RS - 45,80,74446.30
6-M/S Dream Achievers Consultancy Private Limited with a present value of portfolio in stocks of RS - 113,96,44,720.00
7-M/S Ability Smarttech Private Limited with a present value of portfolio in stocks of RS - 41,62,59,225.55
8-M/S Ability Ventures Private Limited with a present value of portfolio in stocks of RS - 39,56,04,700.00
Together, these dummy companies Tibrewal account for a total investment of Rs. 423,60,42,389.11 in the stock market. The ED suspects that most of these investments were in small and mid-cap stocks.
Findings of further investigations
Further investigation revealed that Tibrewal was involved in manipulating the stock market in collusion with these listed companies. Using his substantial capital, Tibrewal created temporary fluctuations in share prices, driving them upwards, and then withdrew funds once the prices reached a desirable level..
The ED's probe also found evidence of cash earned from the betting business being injected into these companies, either directly or indirectly, to be invested in the stock market. An Excel sheet recovered during the ED search detailed how these companies converted the betting funds to bank entries using the services of professional entry operators. This was done to obtain bank balance in bank accounts, with transactions in the name of unlisted equity being undertaken with professional entry operators.
The entire operation orchestrated by Tibrewal was reportedly run by his close associate and arrested accused, Suraj Chokhani. Chokhani, appointed as a director in multiple companies under Tibrewal's direction, played a pivotal role in laundering the betting money.
Currently ED has identified and frozen Indian companies under the control of Tibrewal and his associates, holding securities worth Rs. 580 crore in stock portfolios. Foreign entities also invested in India via the FPI route and were found to be holding securities worth Rs. 606 crore in stock portfolios.
