ED attaches assets worth ₹23.35 crore in K.C. Veerendra online betting case

The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has provisionally attached movable and immovable properties worth ₹23.35 crore belonging to congress MLA from Chitradurga K.C. Veerendra and his associates in connection with an illegal online betting and money=laundering racket.

The attachment includes movable assets valued at ₹13.76 crore and immovable properties worth ₹9.18 crore, taking the total to ₹23.35 crore. The attachment was made under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, through a Provisional Attachment Order dated October 23, 2026.

According to the ED, its investigation has uncovered a nationwide network of illegal online betting platforms, including King 567, a betting app operated through payment gateways, shell companies and mule bank accounts. Players were allegedly induced to deposit money into these platforms and subsequently cheated through manipulated betting operations and blocked withdrawals.

The agency has traced suspected proceeds of the crime exceeding ₹2,300 crore. The funds were allegedly routed through multiple bank accounts, hawala channels, and offshore entities before being used to acquire luxury assets, make business investments, transfer money abroad and meet personal expenses.

The ED alleged that Veerendra and his associates concealed, possessed and projected the proceeds of crime as untainted property, attracting the provisions of Section 3 of the PMLA.

Investigators also found that Fonepaisa Payment Solutions Private Limited, beneficially owned by Gulshan Khattar, had received proceeds of crime as compensation for providing payment gateway and financial intermediary services to the alleged betting network. Assets worth approximately ₹30 crore had previously been attached in connection with the company through an attachment order dated January 29, 2026.

The investigation further revealed that SunTech IT Solutions Private Limited had received credits from identified mule bank accounts linked to King 567. Neha Tandon, a director of the company, allegedly had no active role in its management, which was handled by her husband, Gulshan Khattar, according to the ED.

The agency suspects that properties held in Tandon’s name represent proceeds of crime, citing the receipt of allegedly tainted funds by SunTech and Khattar’s alleged control over the financial transactions and movement of the proceeds through Fonepaisa.

Earlier, the ED had conducted search and seizure operations at more than 60 premises across several States under Section 17 of the PMLA, 2002. Cash, gold bullion, gold and silver jewellery, balances in mule accounts, vehicles, digital devices and incriminating documents were seized or frozen. Veerendra was also arrested under Section 19 of the Act.

The ED filed a prosecution complaint on October 18, 2025, followed by a supplementary prosecution complaint on February 20, 2026. The Special Court under the PMLA took cognisance of the case on May 4, 2026.

Before the latest attachment, the agency had provisionally attached properties worth ₹177.3 crore, which were subsequently confirmed by the PMLA Adjudicating Authority in New Delhi.

With the latest attachment, the aggregate value of properties attached, seized or frozen in the case has exceeded ₹343 crore, the ED said.