ED Attaches Assets of Yuvraj Singh, Sonu Sood, Others in ‘Illegal’ Online Betting Case

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday said it has attached assets worth ₹7.93 crore belonging to former Indian cricketers, actors and models, including Yuvraj Singh, Robin Uthappa, Sonu Sood and former TMC MP Mimi Chakraborty, as part of a money laundering probe linked to an alleged illegal betting app, 1xBet.

Other properties attached include those of model Neha Sharma, Bengali actor Ankush Hazra, and Meera Rautela, the mother of actor and 1xBet India ambassador Urvashi Rautela.

According to the ED, the attached assets include about ₹1 crore belonging to Sonu Sood, ₹59 lakh of Mimi Chakraborty, ₹2.5 crore of Yuvraj Singh’s company YWC Health and Wellness Pvt. Ltd., ₹1.26 crore of Neha Sharma, ₹8.26 lakh of Robin Uthappa, ₹47.20 lakh of Ankush Hazra, and ₹2.02 crore of Meera Rautela.

The provisional attachment order was issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The agency said the assets represent the alleged “proceeds of crime” generated through illegal online betting.

The ED claimed that the celebrities had knowingly entered into endorsement agreements with foreign entities to promote 1xBet through surrogate platforms. Payments for these endorsements were allegedly routed through layered foreign transactions to conceal the illicit origin of the funds.

According to the agency, Curacao-based 1xBet operated in India without authorisation and used surrogate branding, including a platform named 1xBat, to promote illegal betting and gambling activities through social media, online videos and print advertisements. The probe stems from multiple FIRs registered by various state police agencies against the operators of the betting app.

The ED said statements of all the concerned celebrities were recorded for several hours as part of the investigation.

The agency also warned celebrities and social media influencers that endorsing or promoting illegal betting or gambling platforms, including surrogate promotions, is a punishable offence under applicable laws.

In a similar action in October, the ED had attached assets worth ₹11.14 crore belonging to former cricketers Shikhar Dhawan and Suresh Raina in connection with the same case.

The Union government has recently enacted legislation to ban real-money online gaming in India. According to estimates by market analysis firms and investigating agencies prior to the ban, around 22 crore Indians used online betting apps, with nearly half being regular users.

The ED said illegal betting and gambling platforms cause serious economic harm and are widely used for money laundering and other unlawful activities, advising the public to avoid such platforms and report suspicious transactions or advertisements to law enforcement agencies.