The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has seized 40 kg of gold, estimated to be worth over Rs 50 crore, from two lockers of a Karnataka Congress MLA during raids in connection with an ongoing probe into an online betting racket.

According to ED officials, the search operation was carried out by the Bengaluru regional office under the PMLA 2002. With this seizure, the total seizure in the case has exceeded Rs 150 crore, which includes around 21 kg of gold bars, cash, jewellery, luxury vehicles and frozen bank accounts already seized.

KC Veerendra, MLA from Chitradurga Assembly constituency, was arrested in August this year and has been in judicial custody since then. The ED investigation uncovered a ₹2,000 crore betting network operating through several online platforms such as King567 and Raja567. In its statement, the ED said that Veerendra, along with his friends and family members, operated several illegal betting websites and defrauded innocent people. The funds collected from these platforms were routed through several gateways, including PhonePaisa, and transferred through thousands of "mule" accounts operated by intermediaries across India.

The investigation also revealed that betting proceeds were used to finance luxury travel, visas, and hospitality services abroad. The agency said payments for marketing, search engine optimization, bulk SMS campaigns, and platform hosting were also routed through accounts linked to the betting network.

The ED said, "Evidence suggests that funds obtained from illegal online activities were transferred through multiple intermediary accounts to conceal their source." The Enforcement Directorate is working to trace the source of the proceeds of crime linked to Virendra and his associates and identify additional assets.

PC: Vedant Smachar