EaseMyTrip CEO Nishant Pitti Under ED Scanner in Mahadev App Probe

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has reportedly expanded its probe into the matter, putting cofounder Nishant Pitti of the online travel aggregator EaseMyTrip under suspicion, a month after the company formally denied any affiliation with the Mahadev app or any other betting platform.

Pitti is suspected of working with a group of operators who reportedly utilised the money made from the illicit betting business to manipulate the stock prices of 25 listed companies in which the promoters of those companies were involved, according to a media report.

In addition, during its raids last month, the ED allegedly retrieved INR 7 lakh from Pitti's home, which is regarded as possible proceeds of crime (PoC). It is noteworthy that as part of the money laundering probe into the INR 20,000 Cr Mahadev betting case, the ED conducted raids at other Pitti-related venues last month.

 Despite acknowledging in public that ED searched more than 50 places, including the Easemytrip location, the travel tech platform claimed to have "no direct or indirect association with the Mahadev Betting App or any other betting platform."

 But according to a recent media source, the ED made four accusations against Pitti in its submission to the adjudicating authority (AA).

ED’s Allegations on Pitti

Pitti was allegedly aware of the activities of the betting website Sky Exchange, which was connected to the Mahadev app, according to the investigating agency. Additionally, it claimed that Pitti's company paid two shell corporations associated with the software.

The recovery of INR 7 lakh from Pitti's home and his alleged interaction with an operator who conspired with promoters of listed firms to manipulate stocks are the two additional accusations. With eight earning members at home and more than INR 1,000 Cr in IT returns, Pitti has reportedly refuted the accusations once more and told a media outlet that the company's declared cash in hand is more than INR 70 Lakh.

"The INR 7 lakh that was recovered is a small portion of our declared cash and is tiny in comparison to our income," Pitti stated. In the meantime, digital information found on Prashant Bagri's laptop establishes Pitti as a Sky Exchange agent, per the ED's application. Bagri works with one of the main defendants in the lawsuit.

According to reports, ED further points out that Nischay Trading Private Ltd. and Silvertoss Shoppers Pvt. Ltd., which have been identified as entry-providing organisations, received payments from Easy Trip Planners Ltd. in 2021. The ED claims that Easy Trip Planners Ltd. and Pitti handled the proceeds of crime connected to Sky Exchange based on this evidence.

What was Mahadev App Scam?

The lavish wedding of Sourabh Chandrakar, one of the marketers of the Mahadev Online Betting app, in Dubai, which cost more than INR 200 Cr, brought attention to the Mahadev betting app scam in 2023. With 10 million users at its height, the app, which was operated by Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal, let users place real-time bets on sports like tennis, cricket, and football.

Later, a number of celebrities were engaged in the case, including Hina Khan, Huma Qureshi, Shraddha Kapoor, and Ranbir Kapoor. The Mahadev app online betting fraud was exposed by the ED during a crackdown that began months later.

Following investigations, the ED discovered that INR 1,100 Cr of the estimated INR 20,000 Cr in total profits of the crime had been transferred into the stock market using fictitious bank firms and dummy accounts.

The ED had previously claimed that Bhupesh Baghel, the former chief minister of Chhattisgarh, had accepted kickbacks from the Mahadev app's developers totalling more than INR 500 Cr.