ED Conducts Raids at 27 Locations, Including Dream11, in ₹2,434-Crore Real Estate Fraud Case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted extensive searches at 27 locations across the country on Friday, including the office of the popular online fantasy gaming platform Dream11 and the premises linked to its co-founders, Harsh Jain and Bhavit Sheth. These searches are part of a money laundering investigation into a ₹2,434-crore private real estate fund.

The investigation is centered around alleged fraudulent diversion of funds from the real estate fund by several accused persons and entities, including private firm Jai Corp Limited, its then promoter, businessman Anand Jain, and other directors and promoters of sister firms. The probe is based on a First Information Report (FIR) registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on February 18, 2023, following orders from the Bombay High Court.

According to the FIR, the irregularities occurred between 2004 and 2017. The ED suspects that public-sector entities also suffered losses after investing in the private real estate fund, as per officials. Dream11, whose co-founders include Harsh Jain (son of Anand Jain) and Bhavit Sheth, is a former jersey sponsor of the Indian cricket team. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) terminated its association with Dream11 in August 2023 after a new law banned real money gaming.

The searches covered 23 locations in Mumbai, two in Bangalore (Karnataka), and one each in Nashik (Maharashtra) and Raipur (Chhattisgarh). The CBI’s case is based on a January 31 order from the high court and allegations made by a complainant who approached Mumbai police’s Economic Offences Wing in 2021 and 2023. Based on the court’s order, the CBI constituted a Special Investigation Team, headed by IPS officer Sarah Sharma, to probe the case’s allegations. The CBI case was registered under sections of the Indian Penal Code relevant to criminal conspiracy, cheating, and dishonestly inducing the delivery of property, making forged documents for the purpose of cheating, and using such documents as genuine.

The complainant alleged that during 2006 to 2008, Jain and his group, along with others, floated two entities—Urban Infrastructure Venture Capital Ltd (UIVCL) and Urban Infrastructure Trustees Ltd (UITL)—and mobilized funds of ₹2,434 crore from the public for real estate business in Mumbai and other locations under the scheme 'Urban Infrastructure Opportunities Fund.' A joint venture capital fund was set up and registered with SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India).

However, it was alleged that the accused persons diverted the funds by making investments and granting unsecured loans within sister concerns, thereby cheating the public. The sister concerns of Jai Corp Ltd allegedly showed these unsecured loans as losses over the years, based on false and fabricated documents, to justify construction projects. The CBI FIR also alleged fraud related to private real estate funds in Mauritius and Jersey Channel Islands, fraudulent trading in futures of a petrochemical firm, and the diversion of bank loans from India to Mauritius and Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, among other irregularities.

When contacted by HT about the ED’s searches, Dream11’s spokesperson declined to comment. Anand Jain also declined to comment, and efforts to reach Harsh Jain were unsuccessful.

In a separate money-laundering investigation related to the alleged illegal, offshore betting platform 1xBet, ED’s Delhi unit on Friday said it has provisionally attached assets worth ₹7.93 crore. The attached assets belong to a few celebrities, including ex-Indian cricketers Yuvraj Singh and Robin Uthappa, and actors Sonu Sood, Urvashi Rautela, and Mimi Chakraborty. ED’s investigation revealed that these celebrities allegedly entered into endorsement agreements with foreign entities to promote 1xBet, receiving payments through foreign intermediaries to conceal the illicit origin of the funds, which are linked to the proceeds of crime generated from illegal betting activities.

The 1xBet platform allegedly operated in India without authorization and used surrogate branding and advertisements to target Indian users through social media, online videos, and print media. Payments for endorsements were allegedly structured through layered transactions using foreign intermediaries to disguise the illegal source of funds. ED initiated its investigation based on multiple cases registered by various state police agencies against the operators of 1xBet. Earlier, on October 6, ED had attached assets amounting to ₹11.14 crore of ex-Indian cricketers Shikhar Dhawan and Suresh Raina.