A day after the Enforcement Directorate conducted multiple searches at the premises linked to Karnataka Congress MLA KC Veerendra Pappy and some others, theED on Saturday arrested him from Gangktok in connection with illegal online and offline betting case.
Veerendra was arrested under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
The investigative agency said it hasrecovered amount of approximately ₹12 crore in cash, including around ₹1 crore in foreign currency, gold jewellery worth ₹6 crore, silver articles around 10 kilograms.
It also found international casino membership/reward cards of MGM casino, Metropolitan Casino, Bellagio casino, Marina casino, Casino Jewel. Multiple credit and debit cards of various banks, luxury hospitality membership cards of Taj, Hyatt and the Leela hotels, cars with number plate 0003.
Veerendra is a legislator from the Chitradurga assembly seat in Karnataka.
Premises linked to the MLA and some others were searched in a case linked to online betting and gaming.
ED’s Bengaluru zonal office searched 30 premises spanning Chitradurga (6), Bengaluru (10), Jodhpur (3), Hubli (1), Mumbai (2), and Goa (8), including five prominent casinos–Puppy’s Casino Gold, Ocean Rivers Casino, Puppy’s Casino Pride, Ocean 7 Casino, and Big Daddy Casino.
The officials said that
Preliminary findings suggest that the Chitradurga MLA and his associates were running multiple illegal betting websites under names such as King567, Raja567, Puppy’s003, and Rathna Gaming, reported news agency ANI citing officials.
The investigation further revealed that Veerendra’s brother, KC Thippeswamy, was operating three Dubai-based entities, Diamond Softech, TRS Technologies, and Prime9 Technologies, that were linked to the call centre and gaming operations.
The agency also searched premises linked to Anil Gowda, brother of MLA Kusuma H from Rajarajeshwarinagar, Bengaluru.
Incriminating digital and documentary evidence related to the betting racket and its alleged overseas links were seized during the searches.