India’s Enforcement Directorate charges EaseMyTrip co-founder in Mahadev betting case
The ED linked Pitti to Skyexchange owner Hari Shankar Tibrewal and alleged dealings involving Easy Trip Planners shares.
India.- The Enforcement Directorate has accused EaseMyTrip co-founder Nishant Pitti of helping channel alleged illegal betting proceeds into India’s equity market through foreign portfolio investment structures. In a supplementary chargesheet filed before a special PMLA court in Raipur, the ED named Pitti among 42 individuals and companies accused in the case. It also provisionally attached Pitti’s demat shares worth ₹59.60 crore (US$6.2m) and asked the court to confiscate them as alleged proceeds of crime.
According to the agency, Pitti was a close associate of Dubai-based betting platform Skyexchange owner Hari Shankar Tibrewal. The ED alleges that Pitti, acting for Easy Trip Planners Ltd’s promoters, entered into a pre-arranged share deal with Tibrewal associate Amardeep Sharma to raise the company’s stock price and market capitalisation before the shares were acquired through a Tibrewal-linked FPI.
The Directorate further claims that Pitti helped channel and layer Skyexchange’s alleged betting proceeds and knowingly acquired or used the funds. It also cited EaseMyTrip’s joint sponsorship of a cricket series with Skyexchange in 2022 as evidence of links between the two entities.
Pitti has disputed the proceedings, telling local media that he was unaware of the chargesheet and had not been summoned by the court. He also said he had cooperated with law-enforcement agencies and would provide evidence to establish that his actions were legitimate.
In a wider case, comprising one main and five supplementary filings, the ED has named 116 accused, arrested 14 people, attached assets worth ₹1,885 crore (US$197.1m) and conducted searches at 190 premises, according to officials cited in reports. The probe centres on the Mahadev Online Book network, which the ED alleges has generated about ₹80,000 crore (US$8.36bn) in illicit proceeds since 2019.
