Singer and rapper Badshah was on October 30 questioned by the Maharashtra cyber police for allegedly promoting FairPlay, a betting app which is a subsidiary of the Mahadev group being probed by the Enforcement Directorate for money-laundering. According to a complaint filed by Viacom18, which had the telecast and streaming rights of IPL 2023, FairPlay illegally streamed the IPL matches and other programmes of the company (most of which were pay-to-watch or subscription-based content), causing it a loss of Rs. 100 crore.
Badshah’s advocate said, he was interrogated as a witness, like several other celebrities and artistes. Sanjay Dutt, who was also to be questioned, has reportedly submitted his written statement.
The ED had earlier investigated FairPlay as part of its probe into Mahadev Online Book app, which has been accused of arranging online platforms for illegal betting websites and laundering money through a layered web of benami bank accounts. It recently filed a chargesheet before a Chhattisgarh court against Mahadev promoters Saurabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal, saying, “Chandrakar, Uppal, Kapil Chellani and Satish Kumar reside in Dubai and are known to operate 60 illegal offshore gambling websites such as Lotus365, FairPlay, Reddy Anna…” The ED had also summoned celebrities who had promoted Mahadev apps or had performed at their functions after taking most part of their fees in cash.
