During the raids, five luxury cars, including VIP Mercedes-Benz vehicles, were seized. Rs 55 crore was frozen—Rs 40.69 crore in Veerendra’s accounts and Rs 14.46 crore in 262 mule accounts

Bengaluru

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday carried out raids at multiple locations in Challakere town, Chitradurga district, in connection with an illegal online betting scam involving Karnataka Congress MLA K.C. Veerendra, also known as Pappi. The raids follow information provided by the MLA, who has already been arrested by the ED in connection with the case.

Sources said the searches targeted units of a cooperative bank and a private nationalised bank in Challakere. Investigations revealed that MLA Veerendra and his associates had collected over Rs 2,000 crore through a single payment gateway from multiple betting websites within a short period.

Earlier, on September 2, the ED’s Zonal Office conducted searches at various premises in Bengaluru and Challakere under the provisions of the PMLA, 2002. In total, 31 premises were searched across Challakere, Bengaluru, Panaji, Gangtok, Jodhpur, Hubli, and Mumbai.

During the raids, five luxury vehicles, including Mercedes-Benz cars with VIP numbers, were seized. Additionally, Rs 55 crore was frozen, including Rs 40.69 crore in nine bank accounts and one Demat account linked to Veerendra, and Rs 14.46 crore in 262 mule accounts used to route funds from the gaming websites.

Further investigation revealed that Veerendra and his associates operated multiple online betting sites under names such as King567, Raja567, and Lion567, using several payment gateways to process the collections. According to the ED, the total money collected through a single gateway alone exceeded Rs 2,000 crore in a very short time, highlighting the large scale of the illegal operation.

The ED continues to probe the case, focusing on the network of websites and financial channels used by Veerendra and his associates to cheat the public through illegal online betting.