New Delhi: Former Indian cricketer Shikhar Dhawan appeared before the ED here today in a money laundering case related to an alleged illegal betting app.
He reached the Federal Investigation Agency office in central Delhi around 11 am. Sources said the agency recorded Shikhar Dhawan's statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in connection with the probe into an 'illegal' betting app called 1xBet. The former Indian opener is believed to be linked to the app through certain endorsements. The ED wants to know his links with the app during the interrogation.
The agency is investigating several cases related to illegal betting apps against which several people and investors are accused of cheating crores of rupees or evading taxes on a large scale. The Federal Investigation Agency had questioned former cricketer Suresh Raina in this case last month.
The central government recently brought in a law to ban online gaming for money. According to estimates by market analysis firms and investigative agencies, there are about 220 million Indian users of various such online betting apps, half of whom (about 110 million) are regular users.
According to experts, the online betting app market in India is worth over US$ 100 billion, growing at a rate of 30 percent. The government recently told Parliament that it has issued 1,524 orders to block online betting and gambling platforms from 2022 to June 2025.