Gambling

Kingpin of Rs 2.2K cr gambling racket held in UAE, brought back to Gujarat

In a coordinated effort, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Gujarat police and Interpol NCB-Abu Dhabi on Sunday brought back the alleged kingpin of an over Rs 2,273 crore gambling racket apprehended in the UAE, an official said. A Red Notice was issued against the accused, Dipakkumar Dhirajlal Thakkar, wanted by the Gujarat police for cases of criminal breach of trust, cheating, forgery, criminal conspiracy, causing disappearance of evidence and offences under the Information Technology Act and Prevention of Gambling Act, the CBI said in a statement. Thakkar is an accused in a criminal case registered on March 25, 2023, at Madhavpura police station, Ahmedabad, for operating an international gambling racket. According to the CBI, he is allegedly a kingpin of an international illegal criminal gambling racket, operating through special software applications and using hawala channels for the dispersal of proceeds of crime reported to be more than Rs 2,273 crore. The probe agenc

France charges Telegram CEO Pavel Durov with child pornography, drug crimes

Telegram is also facing accusations of not cooperating with authorities by withholding information, engaging in money laundering

Telegram under scanner for extortion, gambling; messaging app may face ban

Investigation against Telegram is being conducted by the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre under the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology

'Discount broking space getting overcrowded; Sensex can hit 100,000'

Globally, growing number of parliamentarians are worried about legitimised gambling via stock exchanges which has social and financial implications, said CJ George, founder & MD, Geojit Financial

Singapore gets tough on casinos in new measures to check terrorism funding

Casinos in Singapore will soon face tighter rules on conducting due diligence checks when receiving cash as part of updated measures to counter terrorism financing, the country's gambling regulatory body said on Monday. Due diligence checks will have to be carried out when casinos receive a cash deposit of SGD 4,000 (USD 2,950) or more into a customer's account - down from the current threshold of SGD 5,000. The new threshold for due diligence checks was among the measures laid out in Singapore's updated National Strategy for Countering the Financing of Terrorism, jointly published on Monday by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), the Ministry of Finance (MOF) and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). "The adjustment is made so that Singapore casinos can better combat money laundering and terrorism financing and align our requirements with FATF standards," the Gambling Regulatory Authority (GRA) said. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is a global money laundering and ...

Press Council cautions newspapers against gambling, betting advertisements

The Press Council of India on Friday cautioned the print media against publication of advertisements promoting betting and gambling platforms. In an advisory, the Press Council of India (PCI) asked the print media to strictly adhere to the directives issued by the Central Consumer Protection Authority on prohibition of advertising/promotion of any unlawful activities prohibited under various laws. The advisory comes in the wake of increasing instances of direct as well as surrogate advertisements and endorsement of activities considered illegal such as betting or gambling.

CCPA warns celebrities, influencers to refrain from promoting gambling

Concerned over rising instances of advertisements related to betting and gambling, consumer watchdog CCPA on Wednesday issued an advisory warning celebrities and influencers to refrain from promoting such illegal activities. The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) warned all stakeholders that stringent action would be taken for endorsements of illegal activities, including betting and gambling. "In response to increasing instances of advertisements promoting illegal activities such as betting and gambling, the CCPA has issued a comprehensive advisory," an official statement said. The advisory, in accordance with the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, has emphasised the prohibition of advertising, promotion, and endorsement of unlawful activities that are prohibited under various laws. "Betting and gambling are strictly prohibited under the Public Gambling Act, 1867, and are considered illegal in the majority of regions across the country. Despite this, online betting platforms

Govt aims to collect $1.7 billion revenue from online gambling tax in FY25

The government in October imposed a 28% tax on funds that online gaming companies collect from their customers for every bet, shocking a nascent $1.5 billion industry that is backed by global investor

Games24x7 thrives amid new GST, explores innovative business models: CEO

'Despite GST, 2023 was best year for our fantasy sports, rummy platforms,' says Games24x7 CEO

Raut accuses Bawankule of spending Rs 3.5 cr at Macao casino; BJP hits back

The Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Bharatiya Janata Party tussled on Monday after Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut accused the ruling party's Maharashtra unit chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule of spending Rs 3.5 crore while gambling at a Macao casino. The BJP responded by uploading on social media a photograph of Raut's colleague Aaditya Thackeray with a glass in his hand and queried "what brand of whiskey" the former state minister was drinking. Raut had posted a picture of Bawankule that he claimed was from a casino in Macao, a special administrative region of China. The Shiv Sena (UBT) leader alleged Bawankule had spent Rs 3.5 crore in just three hours while gambling there. Hitting back, the BJP said on its X account that "our state unit president Bawankule had never played gambling in his life" and that "he was staying there with his family". Attacking Raut, the BJP further said "those whose entire life had become a gamble cannot see anything else". Uploading a photograph, the BJP said, "We

Mahadev betting app: Mumbai police register FIR against 32 people for fraud

The Mumbai police have registered an FIR against 32 people, including the "promoter" of the Mahadev' betting app, for allegedly committing a fraud of nearly Rs 15,000 crore, an official said on Wednesday. According to the Matunga police official, the first information report (FIR) was registered on Tuesday against app promoter Saurabh Chandrakar, and key accused Ravi Uppal and Shubham Soni and others for committing the fraud since 2019 until now. The case was registered on the direction of the 30th Kurla court under Indian Penal Code sections 420 (cheating), 120-B (conspiracy), IT Act (for cyber terrorism) and the Gambling Act, the official said. As per the FIR, the accused have defrauded people of nearly Rs 15,000 crore. The Enforcement Directorate last week claimed that a forensic analysis and a statement made by a 'cash courier' had led to startling allegations that Mahadev betting app promoters have paid about Rs 508 crore to the Chhattisgarh chief minister so far, and that "th

Bihar police seek ban on over 100 gambling, gaming and illegal loan apps

Bihar police has approached the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) seeking a ban on more than 100 gambling/gaming and loan lending apps that are allegedly engaged in money laundering and pose a threat to the financial security of the country. The Economic Offences Unit (EOU) of Bihar police recently approached MeitY urging it to ban more than 100 such apps, Nayyar Hasnain Khan, Additional Director General (ADG) of EOU (Bihar police) told PTI on Saturday. "The decision was taken after confirming that these apps attract Section 69 of the Information Technology (IT) Act as they contain materials which is prejudicial to the sovereignty and integrity of India. Several complaints had been received of extortion and harassment from people who had borrowed very small amounts through such loan lending apps," Khan said. Section 69A of IT Act empowers the government to restrict access to any online content to protect the interest of sovereignty and integrity of the natio

Punjab Police launches operation against illegal lottery, gambling

Punjab Police on Saturday launched a day-long operation across the state against people involved in illegal lottery and gambling. The operation was carried out on the directions of Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav, an official release said. Special Director General of Police (law and order) Arpit Shukla said the operation was conducted across the state in a synchronised manner from 10 am to 3 pm. All the commissioners and senior superintendents of police were asked to depute station house officers of each police station to raid and check people against whom more than two cases of the Gambling Act have been registered in the last five years, he said. As many as 285 police teams, involving 1,500 police personnel, have raided over 500 premises allegedly involved in the illegal lottery and gambling, Shukla said. At least 110 people involved in illegal lotteries and 434 people involved in gambling were checked during a day-long operation carried out in all 28 police

GST officers find tax evasion by offshore entities offering online betting

Tax officers have detected violation of GST law by offshore entities offering online betting and gambling platforms to Indian residents through mobile apps and are working on ways to tackle such mode of tax evasion, a source said. As per the prescribed procedure, all offshore entities providing services in India are required to register as supplier of OIDAR (Online Information Database Access and Retrieval) services under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) law. According to the source, there are many offshore entities providing platforms for online betting and gambling in the country but are not GST-registered and hence are not paying the required GST. "Although several overseas educational bodies offering online courses in India are registered as OIDAR, the entities providing online gaming, betting ad gambling platforms are not registered under GST. We are pursuing such cases and hope to bring them under the GST net," the source told PTI. These online betting and gambling apps are .

Tamil Nadu CM Stalin slams governor for returning anti-gambling bill

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Friday slammed Governor RN Ravi for returning the online gambling prohibition bill four months after it was passed by the State legislature

TN Cabinet decides to pass Bill to ban online gambling, send to Guv Ravi

In a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister M K Stalin on Thursday, the Tamil Nadu government decided to pass again a Bill in the Assembly to ban online gambling and send it to Governor R N Ravi once more for his assent. A day after Ravi returned the TN Prohibition of Online Gambling and Regulation of Online Games Bill stating that it lacked legislative competence, the government asserted that it has the competence to legislate on the matter. Briefing reporters at the State Secretariat, Law Minister S Regupathy said that it has been decided in the Cabinet meeting to reintroduce the Bill in the Assembly, get it passed and send again to Governor Ravi for his assent. The TN Assembly would meet on March 20 for Budget presentation and the duration of the session would be decided later. "Ravi has said that we do not have authority to legislate on this matter. The TN Assembly has competence and we are going to pass the Bill and send it to him." The Governor is duty bound to give his ..

Need central act to regulate online gaming, gambling, says Ashwini Vaishnaw

Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw informed the Lok Sabha that nine States and UTs have passed laws on online gaming adding that there is a need for a central act to regulate it

Cryptos are nothing but gambling, their value only make-believe: RBI Guv

On the CBDC being piloted now, he said central banks issued digital currencies are the future of money and its adoption can help save on logistic and printing costs

Brazil misses out on Fifa world cup betting. What's India's wager?

Will President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva end the country's decades-long ban on games of chance?

Apple suspends gambling ads on app store after complaints from developers

In an email to developers, the tech giant claimed that more advertisements were coming to the App Store in all nations except China