The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached movable and immovable assets worth ₹7.93 crore belonging to several high-profile celebrities, including former cricketers Yuvraj Singh and Robin Uthappa, actors Sonu Sood and Neha Sharma, former Trinamool Congress MP Mimi Chakraborty, Bengali actor Ankush Hazra, and assets linked to model Urvashi Rautela.
The action, taken under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, is part of an ongoing investigation into the illegal offshore betting platform 1xBet, registered in Curaçao, which is alleged to have generated proceeds of crime exceeding ₹1,000 crore through unauthorised operations in India.
According to ED sources, the attached assets include approximately ₹2.5 crore linked to Yuvraj Singh, ₹1 crore to Sonu Sood, ₹1.26 crore to Neha Sharma, ₹2.02 crore in the name of Urvashi Rautela’s mother, ₹59 lakh to Mimi Chakraborty, ₹47 lakh to Ankush Hazra, and ₹8.26 lakh to Robin Uthappa.
The probe revealed that these celebrities had entered into endorsement agreements with foreign entities to promote 1xBet and its surrogate brands (such as 1xBat) through social media, online videos, and print advertisements. These promotions targeted Indian users despite the platform operating without authorisation in the country.
Payments for the endorsements were allegedly routed through layered transactions involving foreign intermediaries to obscure their illicit origin, linked directly to proceeds of crime from illegal betting activities.
The ED has categorised the attached properties as “proceeds of crime” under PMLA. This is the latest in a series of actions in the case, with previous attachments including ₹11.14 crore linked to cricketers Suresh Raina and Shikhar Dhawan, bringing the total seized assets to over ₹19 crore.
All the named individuals were previously questioned by the ED regarding their associations with the platform. The investigation continues, with potential for further attachments as financial trails are traced.
