Saurabh Chandrakar is an Indian businessman and promoter of the Mahadev online betting app, who became notorious in 2023 for his involvement in a money laundering scheme linked to the app.
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Wiki/Biography
Saurabh Chandrakar is a resident of Bhilai, Chhattisgarh. He studied at St. Thomas College, Bhilai. Later, he moved to Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Physical Appearance
Height (Approx): 5′ 9″
Hair Color: Black
Eye colour: black
Saurabh Chandrakar at his wedding ceremony in RAK, Dubai
Family
parents and siblings
Chandrakar is the son of a former employee of Bhilai Municipal Corporation.
wife and children
In February 2023, he married Harshita in Ras Al-Khaimah, UAE. The extravagant wedding worth Rs 200 crore made headlines as Chandrakar hired a private jet to fly the family members from Nagpur to UAE and was attended by Ranbir Kapoor, Atif Aslam, Vishal Dadlani, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Tiger Shroff, Ali Asgar, Sunny Leone and others. Invited celebrities like Leon, Chrissy. Kharbanda, Elli Avram, Nushrat Bharucha, Bharti Singh, Krusha Abhishek and Bhagyashree.
Saurabh Chandrakar and his wife on their wedding day in February 2023
Religion
He follows Hindu religion.
livelihood
humble beginnings
In 2023, Saurabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal were investigated for their involvement in a money laundering scheme linked to the Mahadev online betting app. Both had humble beginnings and were small business owners in Chhattisgarh. Talking about Chandrakar in an interview, his acquaintance Rakesh said,
His father worked in the Municipal Corporation. You can get an idea of the financial condition of the family. He was as average as it could get. No one, even he, would have imagined that he would have this kind of money.”
Reportedly, Chandrakar worked as a salesman in a clothing store in Bhilai, and earned Rs 10,000 per month. Later he opened a juice shop named ‘Juice Factory’ in Nehru Nagar, Bhilai.
A photograph of the juice factory in Nehru Nagar, Bhilai, Chhattisgarh, run by Saurabh Chandrakar
Saurabh Chandrakar often roamed in Suraj Mobile located in the Galaxy campus of Bhilai. He was fond of cricket and his journey in the world of betting started from this game. Talking about Chandrakar in an interview, his acquaintance Mahesh said,
My mobile shop used to be down this road, right next to where he (Chandrakar) used to sit. We kept talking daily for 8-9 months, until the lockdown happened, and his Mahadev app ID started selling like hot cakes.
Meanwhile, Uppal owned a tire shop. Some sources say that Uppal came from an upper-middle-class family of Bhilai and took contracts to install borewells and ran oil-related businesses. When Uppal founded the app he had been involved in betting for more than ten years. Uppal had left Bhilai many years ago, but whenever he visited his hometown, he would meet friends, mostly local gamblers, at a paan shop in Akash Ganga market. There he met Chandrakar. Together, they started their journey as local bookmakers, targeting people at a hyper-local level. In 2018, he moved to Dubai, where he founded Mahadev online betting app.
Rise of Mahadev Online Betting App
The betting app was a widespread syndicate that provided an online platform for illegal betting websites to enroll new users, create user IDs and engage in money laundering through a complex network of anonymous bank accounts. Users can place bets on a range of activities – from election results to sports such as poker, card games and cricket. The Covid-19 pandemic gave owners an opportunity to expand their racket. Both hired operators and agents to attract customers, taking advantage of the lockdown, during which people were forced to work from home or remain idle.
Kingpins of Mahadev betting app case, Saurabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal
While Chandrakar and Uppal managed operations from Dubai, the person representing the app in Bhilai was Raja Gupta, also known as Raj. Raj, a school dropout, worked as a salesman in a clothing shop in Akash Ganga market, earning Rs 1,600 per month until 2016. Later, he got into betting on cricket. Raj had a job at a mobile shop. When he went to collect money for mobile chargers and headphones, he would ask traders in the market to place their bets. There was a drastic change in Raj’s lifestyle after joining hands with Chandrakar. He bought an i20 car and an iPhone, wore gold and silver jewelry and had an attractive presence on social media, leading many to believe he was the owner of the betting app. Reportedly, Raj was last seen in Bhilai in 2021. According to ED and police sources, Raj’s alleged role was to recruit young persons from Chhattisgarh and take them to Dubai, where they sold customer login IDs to operators for several lakhs. While Chandrakar and Uppal kept the bulk of the profits, speculators like Raj earned about 20 percent. Police said that like Raj, there are many other youths in Bhilai who collaborated with Chandrakar and Uppal and whose fortunes changed overnight. Many of these around 150 youth from UP, Bihar, MP, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand were flown to Dubai for training in back-end operations – from issuing IDs to potential customers to handling money flow. While some stayed back, the rest were sent back to India to take over operations there. One of those visiting Dubai said,
I was in dire need of money to repay my loan so I moved to Dubai in December 2021. About 70 of us were from Chhattisgarh and we stayed in a villa in Dubai for six months. I was paid Rs 40,000 per month, of which I sent Rs 10,000 to my family. They covered our food and accommodation expenses and we got a chance to visit Dubai.”
Chandrakar and Uppal operated their gambling operations from the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Targeting the masses seeking easy money, the betting racket soon began to flourish and spread its reach to countries like India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. They set up a network of around 4,000 to 5,000 panel operators across India that will assist bettors in creating accounts, placing bets and handling financial transactions on the app. The syndicate gave franchises of panels or branches to its known associates at a profit ratio of 70-30. Large-scale hawala operations were carried out to transfer betting proceeds to foreign accounts. This racket was carried forward through advertisements and paid endorsements by celebrities like Huma Qureshi and Hina Khan. The pair went so far as to monopolize India’s illegal offshore gambling and acquire brands such as FairPlay, Reddy Anna and Lotus365. He also launched new brands named ‘Betbhai’ and Ambani Book.
Allegation of Dawood Ibrahim’s association with D-Company
In 2023, the ED discovered that Chandrakar and Uppal had links with D-Company, an organized crime syndicate founded and controlled by Indian gangster and drug lord Dawood Ibrahim. Reportedly, after the success of Mahadev Book App, Chandrakar came in contact with some influential people in UAE who were close to Kaskar. Impressed by Chandrakar and Uppal’s earnings from the betting app, Kaskar asked the duo to develop a similar betting app for Pakistan. In 2021, Chandrakar launched a betting app named ‘Khelloyer’ in Pakistan with the patronage of Dawood Ibrahim and the support of ISI. This app also worked in India. Several Bollywood celebrities, including Govinda, Randeep Hooda, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Daisy Shah, Rashami Desai and Shefali Jariwala supported the Pakistan-based app through video clips.
Govinda is promoting Kheloyar app
Kheloyar gaming app was one of the sponsors of the Lanka Premier League (LPL), Sri Lanka’s T20 cricket tournament, in July 2023 along with some other illegal betting platforms. Sources also said that Kaskar had gifted a villa to Chandrakar and Uppal. Saudi Arab.
ED investigation into alleged scam
Mahadev App first came under the scanner of Chhattisgarh Police after a man who used to regularly use the platform died by suicide in Durg district. Investigation revealed that he used to bet online. Then the racket came into limelight during Chandrakar’s extravagance. 200 crore wedding in UAE in February 2023. Various Bollywood celebrities came under the ED scanner for attending Chandrakar’s wedding or supporting the controversial app. Subsequently, the special court under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in Raipur issued non-bailable warrants and lookout circulars for Chandrakar and Uppal. In 2023, fourteen people, including Chandrakar and Uppal, promoters of the online betting app, were named as accused in the charge sheet by the ED. The chargesheet was filed in a special PMLA court in Raipur. ED issues Look Out Circular (LOC) against Chandrakar and Uppal. According to the investigating agency, the proceeds of crime could be around Rs 6,000 crore.
On October 16, 2023, Mrigank Mishra (25), the main accused in the scam, was detained by security personnel at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport upon his arrival from Dubai. Mishra was accused of helping the promoters of the app in opening hundreds of dubious bank accounts to divert the money generated from the scam. His custody was later taken by a police team from Rajasthan, where he faced a case of fraud and forgery related to the Mahadev app.
Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn