{"id":777030044,"date":"2025-08-07T09:58:13","date_gmt":"2025-08-07T12:58:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777030044"},"modified":"2026-04-21T20:18:40","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T23:18:40","slug":"indian-actor-vijay-deverakonda-denies-promotng-illegal-gambling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/indian-actor-vijay-deverakonda-denies-promotng-illegal-gambling","title":{"rendered":"Indian actor Vijay Deverakonda denies promoting illegal gambling"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The popular celebrity claims he only endorsed legal gaming platforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

India.-\u00a0 Indian actor Vijay Deverakonda is the latest high-profile celeb to appear before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with an investigation into alleged money laundering tied to illegal online betting platforms<\/a>. Following his appearance at the ED\u2019s Hyderabad office, the actor issued a public statement distancing himself from any illegal activity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI had endorsed a few gaming apps, which are completely legal and recognised by the Government,\u201d Deverakonda told reporters. \u201cThese platforms are licensed, pay GST and TDS, and are registered as gaming companies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The actor said his endorsements were only for skill-based gaming platforms operating legally in India and that his agreement with the company A23 ended in 2023. He said his legal team had reviewed all contracts to ensure compliance with Indian law. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ED\u2019s case focuses on suspicions that operators used celebrity endorsements to lend legitimacy to betting apps operating outside India\u2019s regulatory frameworks. The probe is looking into 29 celebrities, including actors, influencers, and TV personalities. Deverakonda\u2019s appearance follows those of actors Prakash Raj<\/a>, Rana Daggubati and Manchu Lakshmi. <\/p>\n\n\n

\n\t\t\tSee also:<\/span><\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tSee also:<\/span> India probes celebrity ties to suspected illegal betting app promotions<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The popular celebrity claims he only endorsed legal gaming platforms.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":680,"featured_media":777026918,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"Indian actor Vijay Deverakonda has appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with an investigation into alleged money laundering tied to illegal online betting platforms. Deverakonda asserts his endorsements were exclusively for legal, skill-based gaming platforms compliant with Indian law, distancing himself from illicit activities. The ED's probe, involving 29 celebrities, scrutinizes the use of endorsements to legitimize unregulated betting operations.","focusai_entities":"Vijay Deverakonda, Enforcement Directorate (ED), A23, Prakash Raj, Rana Daggubati, Manchu Lakshmi","focusai_location":"India, Hyderabad","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (1.0), operator_casino (0.85), affiliate_publisher (0.7), payments_fraud_aml (0.9), investor_analyst (0.9), supplier_vendor (0.7), journalist_researcher (1.0)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Impact on Endorsement Due Diligence","query":"What enhanced due diligence protocols are now expected from celebrities and their legal teams when entering into endorsement agreements with iGaming platforms in India, particularly concerning the distinction between skill-based gaming and betting, and adherence to regulatory compliance?"},{"label":"Regulatory Enforcement Scope","query":"How might the Enforcement Directorate's expanded probe into celebrity endorsements influence the broader regulatory landscape for online gaming in India, specifically regarding the classification and B2B\/B2C licensing of platforms and the enforcement of governance frameworks?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[439,16334],"tags":[24805,24634,58],"class_list":["post-777030044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-legal-news","category-south-asia-news","tag-advertisments","tag-illegal-online-gambling","tag-india"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777030044","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\/680"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777030044"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777030044\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777030055,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777030044\/revisions\/777030055"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/777026918"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777030044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777030044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777030044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}