Mahadev betting app scam: Sourabh Chandrakar's rise from juice vendor to lavish ₹200 crore wedding

livemint.com:

₹200 crore- spent on the bash was paid entirely in cash. The ED investigation has shown that the Mahadev Online Book App is run from a central head office in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), officials said. It operates by franchising "Panel/Branches" to their known associates on a 70-30 profit ratio, the agency had said.

The company promoted by Sourabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal was being operated from Dubai. It was allegedly using the online book betting application to enrol new users, create IDs and launder money through a layered web of benami bank accounts, the agency has alleged. According to various reports, Sourabh Chandrakar had his humble beginning by being a juice vendor in Bhillai.

At his wedding held in Ras Al-Khaimah, Sourabh Chandrakar, one of the promoters of an online betting platform, hired private jets to ferry family members from Nagpur to the UAE and paid celebrities from the film industry to perform, according to the ED. The agency released details of its investigation into the online money laundering case linked with the Mahadev Online Book Betting app. Wedding planners, dancers, decorators etc, were hired from Mumbai and hawala channels were used to make payments in cash.

“Sudden and illegal riches are being openly flaunted by them," the ED said in a statement. A Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) special court at Raipur has also issued non-bailable warrants against the suspects. The ED which is investigating money laundering charges in connection with the Mahadev Online Book app had last month conducted searches in Chhattisgarh and arrested four accused including the chief liaisoner of the betting syndicate, which the probe agency alleged was organizing payment of bribes to senior government