The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is investigating multiple "shell" companies and casinos in countries such as Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Georgia as part of a money laundering case against Karnataka Congress MLA KC Veerendra, also known as 'Puppy'.
A special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Bengaluru has remanded Veerendra to ED custody until August 28. He was arrested by the central agency in Sikkim on Saturday following multi-state raids on his premises, as well as on those of his family members and associates, in connection with an alleged illegal online and offline betting case.
The ED has officially linked the Chitradurga MLA to the operations of five casinos in Goa: Puppy's Casino Gold, Ocean Rivers Casino, Puppy's Casino Pride, Ocean 7 Casino, and Big Daddy Casino. He is also suspected of operating several online betting sites.
According to sources, the ED will question the legislator during his remand about several "shell" or dummy companies with which he is allegedly associated.
The ED suspects that the casino operations were being used to "convert" cash funds into legitimate income. This was allegedly done by showing the illicit funds as credit card payments and then settling the accounts using money diverted from cyber fraud. The operations of some casinos in countries like Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Georgia are also under the ED's scanner, with sources claiming Veerendra was managing these offshore businesses. Computer-based documents recovered during the searches reportedly indicate these overseas operations.
The ED also recovered documents that suggest Veerendra was in the process of purchasing a casino from Santiago Martin, a Tamil Nadu-based figure known as the 'lottery king.' Martin is already under investigation by the ED in a separate money laundering case. The agency is also looking into the source of funds used to purchase several SUVs with "fancy and VIP" number plates by Veerendra, his brother KC Nagaraj, and his son Pruthvi N Raj.
Also read: ED raids AAP leader Saurabh Bhardwaj
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