PremiumKapil Sharma approached by celebrity coordinator for Mahadev App, says ED
According to an ED charge sheet, Kapil Sharma was asked to perform at an event hosted by the proprietor of the Mahadev App by a celebrity coordinator.
Last Updated: 03.23 PM, Oct 27, 2023
A number of celebrities have come under scrutiny as a result of the Mahadev App investigation. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) summoned them to appear before it in order to examine payments made to them for the purpose of promoting the app.
Agencies wanted to know about the role of Ranbir Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor, Hina Khan, and Huma Qureshi in promoting the app, as well as the amount of payments they received—which the ED claimed were proceeds of crime. Conversely, comedian-turned-actor Kapil Sharma was called in because he had attended a function that the app's creator, Saurabh Chandrakar, had arranged.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) stated in its chargesheet that Kapil Sharma was asked to participate in an event hosted by Saurabh Chandrakar, the founder of the Mahadev App, by a celebrity organizer named Abhijit Choudhary. M/s Muskan Events paid Sharma's event management business for the performance.
Choudhary is one of the 103 persons whose statement was recorded by the ED and works in the live events and artist coordinating industry. According to his statement, the celebs were asked to perform at the Mahadev Book event by M/s Muskan Events Management, Dubai.
Chandrakar and Uppal are accused by the ED of masterminding a scam through their panel operators that is estimated to be worth Rs 6,000 crore. The Mahadev app headquarters in the United Arab Emirates employed managers to retrieve funds from panel operators and transfer them to the Mahadev Online Book promoters. These managers received a 2.5 percent commission for gathering these funds and transferring them to the bank accounts controlled by headquarters.
According to the ED investigation, funds from parties that would use the Mahadev app were transferred through a number of unlawfully obtained bank accounts before being sent outside of India. The ED is investigating thousands of "benami" bank accounts that are connected to the scam.
The headquarters, which was situated in the United Arab Emirates, would keep the SIM card on hand and supply OTPs to the panels that ran Telegram and WhatsApp. Staff at the headquarters would log out of WhatsApp if a panel operator was discovered, making it impossible to recover data from the operator's phone and thereby skirting the law.
Agencies find it almost impossible to get data via Telegram or WhatsApp without a SIM card.
The panel operators were part of a closed WhatsApp group called "HQ Account," according to the chargesheet. Panel operators shared information on Hawala operators and Hawala note numbers among themselves in this group.