The Enforcement Directorate conducted multi-state raids on Wednesday targeting payment companies, chartered accountants, and company secretaries in connection with a money laundering investigation. According to reports from IANS, raids were conducted at 12 locations across Maharashtra, Delhi-NCR, Rajasthan, and Gujarat under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The operation represents a significant enforcement action against alleged money laundering activities related to online betting operations, with the ED's Mumbai Zonal Office conducting searches at five locations in Maharashtra, two in Rajasthan, one in Gujarat and four locations across Delhi-NCR. The latest data shows raids were made at five locations in Maharashtra, four in Delhi-NCR, two in Rajasthan and one in Gujarat, demonstrating the extensive geographical scope of the investigation. The search operation is being continued by the ED's Mumbai zonal office under Section 17 of PMLA, 2002, which grants authorised officers the power to conduct search and seizure operations if they have documented reasons to believe that a person is involved in money laundering or possesses proceeds of crime, covering premises of the suspects linked to the case. The latest action comes months after the ED's Mumbai Zonal Office conducted searches at 17 locations across Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Delhi, Gujarat, Daman and Uttar Pradesh in May this year as part of the same ongoing investigation.
The investigation centers on payment companies allegedly converting betting proceeds into cash through chartered accountants and company secretaries. As reported by IANS, these entities are accused of helping send money abroad in illegal remittances and 'sham' Overseas Direct Investment (ODI) routed via payment gateways on behalf of Parimatch. The case specifically involves online betting firm Parimatch and several other entities in the money laundering scheme, with the latest searches focusing on premises linked to payment companies allegedly involved in converting betting proceeds into cash through Cash Management System (CMS) agents, Chartered Accountant (CA) and Company Secretaries who have facilitated shifting the proceeds out of country through illegal remittances and sham Overseas Direct Investment (ODI) investments, and Payment Gateways who have handled pay-ins and payouts on behalf of Parimatch. The investigation has revealed complex financial networks allegedly used to collect, layer and transfer user funds, with the platform allegedly luring users with promises of high returns and is suspected to have generated more than ₹3,000 crore in a year. According to IANS reports, the premises covered include those of payment companies who have converted betting proceeds into cash through Cash Management System agents, Chartered Accountant (CA) and Company Secretaries who have facilitated shifting the proceeds out of country through illegal remittances and sham Overseas Direct Investment (ODI) investments, and Payment Gateways who have handled pay-ins and payouts on behalf of Parimatch.
The investigation has revealed complex financial networks allegedly used to collect, layer and transfer user funds. According to IANS reports, the platform allegedly lured users with promises of high returns and is suspected to have generated more than ₹3,000 crore in a year. During the latest searches, the ED seized movable assets worth around ₹1.56 crore, including nearly ₹1.2 crore in cash. The agency also froze approximately ₹3.8 crore held in various bank accounts and seized documents and digital devices allegedly linked to the investigation. The ED has so far frozen assets worth ₹112 crore in the case with further investigation ongoing. As reported by IANS, the investigation has also uncovered alleged surrogate advertising under names such as 'Parimatch Sports' and 'Parimatch News', with the platform pursuing hyperlocal marketing and sponsored local cricket leagues across more than 15 states, besides hockey and football tournaments. The agency has also alleged that betting-related promotional material was circulated through leading quick-commerce applications, including along with grocery deliveries, to attract and onboard new users. The ED has informed that a layered mechanism wherein user funds were routed through retailers and Grahak Seva Kendras operating under Business Correspondent (BC) networks, with money first transferred to retailers who passed it to BCs, and BCs recharging wallets of retailers to make payouts to Parimatch users.
The investigation has revealed sophisticated money laundering techniques used by the platform. According to IANS reports, in some cases, withdrawals were processed without direct outward payments from accounts controlled by the platform. Instead, deposits made by other users were routed into the bank accounts or UPI IDs of withdrawing users in multiple tranches, allegedly obscuring the actual money trail. The agency has also discovered that user deposits and payouts were also routed through current accounts held in the names of software, fintech and technology-related entities. Some of these entities were engaged in legitimate business activities, but their accounts were allegedly used to route betting-related funds under the guise of vendor payments, business transactions and payment gateway services. Earlier searches had revealed the alleged misuse of Banking Correspondent (BC) networks, mobile money transfer agents, Grahak Seva Kendras, CMS channels, local kirana stores and retail outlets for processing payouts and moving funds linked to the betting platform. Certain agents allegedly diverted cash received through CMS channels and adjusted the same against RTGS transfers sourced from deposits made by Parimatch users, thereby disguising the true origin and trail of funds. Such cash funds were subsequently transferred outside India through hawala channels.
The case originates from an FIR filed by the cyber police station of Mumbai Police against parimatch.com for 'duping' users through online betting. According to IANS, the agency has previously carried out searches and attached assets in this case, indicating ongoing enforcement efforts. The latest action follows searches conducted by the agency on May 26 this year at 17 locations across Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Delhi, Gujarat, Daman and Uttar Pradesh as part of an ongoing probe in the case of the Cyprus-based illegal online betting platform Parimatch. The Mumbai Police cyber unit's investigation has provided the legal framework for the current multi-state enforcement action, with the ED also searching premises linked to Chartered Accountants (CAs) and Company Secretaries (CSs) who allegedly facilitated the movement of proceeds outside India through illegal remittances and sham Overseas Direct Investment (ODI) transactions. The ED also searched payment gateways that allegedly handled pay-ins and payouts on behalf of the Parimatch platform during the latest searches.
