{"id":777009493,"date":"2023-09-21T06:51:38","date_gmt":"2023-09-21T09:51:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777009493"},"modified":"2026-04-22T17:52:38","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T20:52:38","slug":"india-authorities-raid-offices-of-celebrity-managers-in-mahadev-book-investigation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/india-authorities-raid-offices-of-celebrity-managers-in-mahadev-book-investigation","title":{"rendered":"India: authorities raid offices of celebrity managers in Mahadev Book investigation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has raided the offices of celebrity managers in Mumbai and Delhi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p>India.- The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is reported to have raided the offices of celebrity managers in Mumbai and Delhi as part of a money laundering investigation related to the wedding of Sourabh Chandrakar, owner of\u00a0<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/authorities-freeze-assets-in-mahadev-book-probe\" target=\"_blank\">the Mahadev Book betting app<\/a>.\u00a0Authorities seized approximately Rs 2.5 crores, and recorded statements from the managers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Chandrakar is believed to have organised a wedding celebration in Dubai in February 2023, reportedly spending approximately Rs 200 crore (US$2.5m). Various Bollywood celebrities appeared and performed. Sources told India Today that celebrity managers had received payments in cash through hawala operators and then directed a portion of the funds to the actors and singers who performed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Many of the managers have reportedly affirmed that their compensation was paid in cash, channelled through intermediaries associated with event companies. It is expected that the celebrities who participated may be summoned for interrogation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Gambling is illegal in India. Mahadev Book is allegedly co-promoted by Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal, both originating from Chhattisgarh&#8217;s Bhilai region but operating their business from Dubai. The app offers online casino and betting services. The ED and Chhattisgarh Police have issued a Lookout Circular (LOC) against Chandrakar and Uppal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>See also:&nbsp;<\/strong><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/india-4-arrested-in-connection-with-mahadev-book-gambling-app-case\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">India: 4 arrested in connection with Mahadev Book gambling app case<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has raided the offices of celebrity managers in Mumbai and Delhi.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":21187,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"India's Enforcement Directorate (ED) has raided celebrity managers' offices in Mumbai and Delhi as part of a money laundering investigation linked to the illegal Mahadev Book betting app. The probe focuses on illicit financial flows, including hawala transactions, used to fund a lavish wedding in Dubai for the app's owner, Sourabh Chandrakar, and compensate Bollywood celebrities. This action highlights significant regulatory and financial crime enforcement against unregulated iGaming operations.","focusai_entities":"Enforcement Directorate, Sourabh Chandrakar, Mahadev Book, Ravi Uppal, India Today, Chhattisgarh Police","focusai_location":"Mumbai, Delhi, India, Dubai, Chhattisgarh","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (1.0), operator_casino (0.7), payments_fraud_aml (1.0), investor_analyst (0.9), supplier_vendor (0.7), journalist_researcher (1.0)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Cross-Border Enforcement?","query":"What specific international cooperation mechanisms are being leveraged by the ED to dismantle the Mahadev Book operation, given its Dubai base and India-centric illicit activities?"},{"label":"Regulatory Framework Impact?","query":"How might this high-profile investigation influence the ongoing discussions and potential legislative changes regarding online gambling regulation and enforcement within India?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[439,16334],"tags":[23911],"class_list":["post-777009493","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-legal-news","category-south-asia-news","tag-gambling-regulation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777009493","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/176"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777009493"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777009493\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777041283,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777009493\/revisions\/777041283"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21187"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777009493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777009493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777009493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}