The Enforcement Directorate's (ED) investigation into the Mahadev illegal betting cartel has revealed that the arrested accused, Girish Talreja, is allegedly the owner of the subsidiary app of the Mahadev betting app, Lotus365. He is believed to be a partner of Saurabh Chandrakar in their alleged illegal betting operation.
The ED's prosecution complaint revealed a raid had taken place on the Pune based premises of Lotus365.com's premises in Pune and following the raid, Talreja was arrested. The agency officials claim that the accused were allegedly generating and handling Rs 50 crore a month from their betting business. The ED has estimated the tentative proceeds of crime to be around Rs 2,400 crore over a two year period.
Undisclosed Foreign Remittances And Property Acquisitions
During the investigation, the ED found that Talreja and his wife Keerti Talreja in their bank accounts had received numerous foreign inward remittances totaling Rs 22.30 crores between 2019 and 2023. It was further revealed that these remittances were ultimately utilized by Talreja and Keerti to purchase properties in their name. Talreja has named all his UAE based properties to the ED officials, but he did not disclosed his India based properties and assets.
The ED officials however, during the course of investigations learnt that Talreja has properties in Mumbai and land parcels in Maharashtra and several other immovable assets in Madhya Pradesh and other states. The ED also found that several immovable assets were purchased by Keerti Talreja, but the couple did not disclosed details of these properties, nor did their family members reveal any details despite making payments to Girish Talreja as "gifts", which were ultimately utilized for purchases of these properties.
According to the ED's prosecution complaint, Girish and Keerti Talreja owns two commercial properties totally worth Rs 8.2 crore in Mumbai's Unicorn Project on Dattaji Salve Marg, Veera Desai Road, Andheri West. Additionally, they possess agricultural land in Hinanghat, Wardha District, valued at Rs 1 crore 81 lakhs. In Keerti Talreja's name, there are five land parcels worth Rs 5 crore in Madhya Pradesh.
Investigation Details And Allegations Against Keerti Talrej
According to the ED's investigation, Keerti is currently a director in multiple business ventures along with Girish Talreja. However, she did not provide the business venture details and financial statements of businesses to the ED officials during the probe and she did not even remain present before the ED officials despite several summons were issued to her.
Moreover, according to the ED's prosecution complaint, Girish Talreja's name was found in the guest list of Saurabh Chandrakar's wedding under the list of those people who were professionally connected with him in his businesses. During the investigation, Talreja attempted to mislead the investigators by claiming that he has been in the business of buying and selling properties in Dubai since 2013, with a company turnover of 30 to 40 million dollars. He clarified that he is solely a businessman and was not involved in betting activities.
