New Delhi [India], August 23 : The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday arrested Karnataka MLA from Chitradurga, KC Veerendra, in connection with a massive illegal online and offline betting racket.
Veerendra was arrested from Gangtok in Sikkim under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 following a massive two-day nationwide search operation started on August 22.
The searches were conducted by the ED's Bengaluru zonal office on August 22 and 23 at 31 locations across India -- including Gangtok, Chitradurga district, Bengaluru, Hubli, Jodhpur, Mumbai and Goa. In Goa alone, raids covered five prominent casinos -- Puppy's Casino Gold, Ocean Rivers Casino, Puppy's Casino Pride, Ocean 7 Casino and Big Daddy Casino.
The crackdown led to the recovery of nearly Rs 12 crore in cash, including Rs 1 crore in foreign currency, gold jewellery worth Rs 6 crore, around 10 kg of silver articles, and four luxury vehicles. Further, 17 bank accounts and 2 bank lockers were also frozen. Many properties related documents were also seized from the premise of brother of KC Veerendra, KC Nagaraj and his son Pruthvi N Raj. Several incriminating documents were also seized from several premises.
According to the ED, the legislator's alleged involvement in betting operations spans across multiple states. The agency suspects that the seized assets are linked to proceeds of crime generated through the illegal betting network.
Search has revealed that the accused is running several online betting sites in the name of King567 and Raja567, through which he allegedly routed betting proceeds.
In a significant revelation, officials said that Veerendra's brother, KC Thippeswamy, is operating three business entities from Dubai -- Diamond Softech, TRS Technologies and Prime9 Technologies. These firms, linked to call centre services and gaming operations, are suspected to be associated with the betting and money laundering activities of the MLA.
"The legislator's brother KC Thippeswamy, and associates Pruthvi N Raj, are handling operations of online gaming from Dubai. Further, it was revealed that K C Veerendra, along with his associates had travelled to Gangktok via Bagdogra on business visit to lease a land casino. Incriminating material seized during search proceedings indicate complex layering of cash and other funds," said the ED.
To further identify the Proceeds of Crime, K C Veerendra was arrested from Gangktok and produced before Judicial Magistrate Gangtok and transit remand was obtained for producing him before jurisdictional court in Bengaluru.