Sonu Sood questioned by ED for nearly 7 hours in betting app-linked PMLA case

The investigating officer of the case questioned Sonu and recorded his statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the officials said.

The federal probe agency has questioned former cricketers Suresh Raina, Shikhar Dhawan, Robin Uthappa and Yuvraj Singh, apart from former Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP and actor Mimi Chakraborty and Bengali actor Ankush Hazra over the last few weeks as part of the investigation.

Some female social-media influencers have also been questioned by the agency as part of the probe.

The investigation into the operations of the 1xBet betting app is part of the ED’s wider probe against such platforms on allegations of duping numerous people of crores of rupees and reportedly evading a huge amount of direct and indirect taxes.

According to 1xBet, which is registered in Curacao, it is a globally recognised bookmaker with 18 years of experience in the betting industry. Its customers can place bets on thousands of sporting events, and the company’s website and app are available in 70 languages.

The ED is expected to question more sportspersons, film actors, online influencers, and celebrities in the coming days.

The agency may also soon initiate the process of attaching assets of individuals who are found using the alleged proceeds of crime generated from the promotional activities of the app. A chargesheet will be filed subsequently before a court, sources said.

According to the sources, the ED’s line of investigation is to learn from the celebrities how they were contacted by the said betting company seeking their endorsement, the nodal persons for contact in India, the mode of payment (cash through hawala or the banking channel), the place of the payments (in India or abroad), etc.

While recording the statements of the cricketers and actors, the ED is understood to be asking them if they know that online betting and gaming are illegal in India. It has also asked them to furnish a copy of their contracts and all relevant e-mail and paper documentation made by them with 1xBet.

According to the sources, the agency is also examining the use of the money taken by the celebrities to determine whether it can be categorised as “proceeds of crime” under the PMLA.

The Centre recently banned real-money online gaming in India by bringing legislation.

The ED has also recently taken a policy decision to have “focused strategies” in order to investigate financial crimes linked to illegal betting and gaming.

According to estimates by market-analysis firms and probe agencies undertaken before the government ban, there were about 22 crore Indian users in various such online betting apps and around half of them were regular users.

The online betting app market in India was estimated to be worth more than USD 100 billion, which was stated to be growing at the rate of 30 per cent annually, according to experts.

The government told Parliament that it issued 1,524 orders to block online betting and gambling platforms from 2022 to June 2025.