ED Pushes 1xBet Crore Probe Past ₹37 Crore

⏱ 3 min read

India's Enforcement Directorate has pushed its money laundering probe into offshore betting platform 1xBet past ₹37.23 crore in attached assets, reaching now into the advertising infrastructure that kept the banned operator visible to Indian bettors. The latest action, against Parthtech Developers LLP, behind cricket platforms CREX and OneCricket, marks a shift from celebrity endorsers toward the ad-tech intermediaries routing 1xBet's promotions.

The probe, run under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, has unfolded in three tranches since October 2025, attaching assets of cricketers Shikhar Dhawan, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh and Robin Uthappa, alongside actors Sonu Sood and Urvashi Rautela, before widening to the network that allegedly kept the platform reachable despite its 2023 India ban.

The Attachment Timeline

The case began narrow and widened steadily. On October 6, 2025, the ED attached ₹11.14 crore belonging to Dhawan and Raina. By December 19, 2025, it covered seven public figures and ₹7.93 crore, including amounts tied to Sood, Rautela, former Trinamool Congress MP Mimi Chakraborty, and actors Ankush Hazra and Neha Sharma. The latest tranche, on March 2, 2026, added ₹18.10 crore and pushed the focus toward the platform's promotional machinery rather than its public faces.

How the Money Moved

According to the ED, 1xBet operated in India without authorisation, using mirror websites to stay reachable after its formal ban. Funds were collected through dynamically generated UPI IDs linked to mule bank accounts, a structure the agency says disguised true beneficiaries while layering proceeds of crime across intermediaries.

• Endorsement payments to celebrities were routed through foreign entities to obscure their origin
• Mirror domains let the platform evade ISP-level blocks on its primary site
• UPI collection points were rotated to frustrate transaction tracing

The Advertising Network Exposed

The newest phase centres on Parthtech Developers LLP, which the ED says entered structured advertisement agreements with Bwise Media AG, a Switzerland-based entity, to promote illegal betting platforms including 1xBet. Statements recorded under Section 50 of the PMLA reportedly established that 1xBet ads were booked, geo-targeted, and executed directly on the CREX platform through an in-house ad server called Parth Adex.

That detail signals the ED is now examining the ad-tech layer connecting offshore operators to Indian audiences, not just the celebrities who lent their faces to campaigns.

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What This Means for Operators

For licensed operators serving Indian players, the case marks where enforcement risk concentrates and where it doesn't.

Factor	1xBet (Unlicensed)	Licensed Offshore Operators
India authorisation	None; operating via mirror sites	Operates under recognised offshore licences (e.g. Curaçao, Anjouan)
Payment structure	Dynamic UPI IDs, mule accounts	Transparent, traceable payment rails
Endorsement exposure	Celebrity assets attached under PMLA	Standard compliant marketing agreements
Ad placement	Geo-targeted via undisclosed ad server	Disclosed, auditable ad partnerships

The widening scope, from individual endorsers to the ad-tech firms placing their content, suggests authorities are mapping the full distribution chain rather than treating each attachment as isolated.

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Sources

This article draws on the Enforcement Directorate's official press release and independent reporting that corroborated the same figures and timeline.

Do not engage with unauthorised online betting platforms or share banking details on them.

— Enforcement Directorate, Official Advisory · 1xBet PMLA Case, March 2026