The Enforcement Directorate (ED) searched on June 12, at a Mumbai-based event management company to investigate the Fairplay app case, a subsidiary of the Mahadev Betting app.
As known already, the company is suspected to have enrolled several Bollywood celebrities like Sanjay Dutt, Jacqueline Fernandez and rapper Badshah to be ambassadors for the app. The ED has recorded statements of Badshah, and the managers of both Dutt and Fernandez.
According to the Free Press Journal, sources have revealed that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) took the statement of an individual linked to an event management firm a month before conducting raids, during which seizures were made at the company’s premises.
Currently, the ED is scrutinizing the confiscated documents. These documents include contracts with celebrities for endorsing Fairplay, details of payments and transactions, and other company-related information involving substantial payments made to celebrities for their endorsements.
The ED initiated an investigation after the Maharashtra Cyber Police in Mumbai filed an FIR following a complaint from M/s. Viacom18 Media Pvt. Limited.
As per details provided by the Maharashtra Cyber Cell to the ED, statements were obtained from Prateek Singh Sisodia (Badshah) and the managers of Sanjay Dutt and Jacqueline Fernandez. These statements were subsequently forwarded to the ED for further examination.
Officials have mentioned that the ED gathered witness statements both before and during the search operation in this matter, and these statements are currently under review. Due to the complexity of the data, which includes shell accounts, specific details cannot be disclosed at this time. Sources suggest that the ED intends to soon summon Bollywood actors to record their statements as prosecution witnesses in the ongoing investigation.