In a money laundering investigation involving the online betting app 1xBet, the Enforcement Directorate interviewed former Indian cricketer Robin Uthappa for more than eight hours on Monday and recorded his statement, according to sources.
Around 11 a.m., Uthappa, 39, arrived at the agency’s New Delhi office and departed around 7:30 p.m. According to the officials, the former India batter was questioned and his statement was recorded in the case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Over the past few weeks, the government investigating agency has interrogated former Indian cricketers Suresh Raina and Shikhar Dhawan in addition to Bengali actress Ankush Hazra and former TMC MP and actor Mimi Chakraborty.
In the same case, the ED has called former India all-rounder Yuvraj Singh on Tuesday and actor Sonu Sood on Wednesday.
The ED is looking into the activities of the 1xBet betting app as part of a larger inquiry against these platforms on claims that they have defrauded many people out of crores of rupees and allegedly avoided paying a significant sum of direct and indirect taxes.
1xBet, which is registered in Curacao, claims to be a well-known bookmaker with eighteen years of experience in the betting business. The company’s website and app are available in 70 languages, and its customers may wager on hundreds of sporting events.
As part of its investigation, the agency is anticipated to question a few more sportspersons, actors, internet influencers, and celebrities in the days ahead.
According to sources, the ED’s line of inquiry is to inform the celebrities about how the betting company in question contacted them to solicit their endorsement, who to contact in India, the payment method (cash via hawala or banking channel), the location of the payment (in India or overseas), etc.
It is said that the CIA asked the celebrities and cricket players if they were aware that online gaming and betting were prohibited in India when recording their statements. Additionally, it has requested that they provide a copy of their contracts with 1xBet, along with all pertinent email and paper records.
According to the sources, the agency is also examining how the celebrities’ money is ultimately used to determine whether any of it qualifies as “proceeds of crime” under the PMLA.
Real money internet gaming was recently banned in India by the Union government through legislation.
At a recent national gathering of its top officers in Jammu and Kashmir, the ED also made the decision to start “focused strategies” to look into financial crimes that come from this industry and are connected to alleged illegal gaming and betting.
Before the government ban, market research firms and investigative agencies estimated that there were over 22 crore Indian users of these online betting apps, with half of them being frequent users.
According to experts, the Indian online betting app business is expected to be valued over $100 billion and is expanding at a rate of 30%.
The government informed Parliament that it has blocked internet gaming and betting platforms through 1,524 orders issued between 2022 and June 2025.
