Google, Meta Given Fresh Summons After They Fail To Depose Before ED In Illegal Betting Apps Case
Official sources said the Enforcement Directorate has asked Google and Meta executives to appear before it on July 28
Google and Meta were given fresh summons on Monday after the tech giants failed to depose before the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case linked to promotion of 'illegal" online betting and gambling platforms.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has now asked representatives of the companies to appear before it on July 28, official sources said.
According to the sources, it is understood that representatives of the two companies sought deferment of the July 21 summons, saying they need time to collect relevant information and documents before they present themselves for questioning and recording of their statements at the ED.
The sources said the executives have been given a one-week extension and asked to depose on July 28. Once they do, their statements will be recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), they said.
There was no immediate response from the two companies. The ED is probing multiple platforms hosting illegal betting and gambling links, including instances of advertisements placed for them on various internet-based social media outlets and app stores.
The ED has said illegal online betting and gambling platforms were cheating innocent people of their hard-earned money, and also laundering and evading taxes worth crores of rupees.
It is investigating more than a dozen big cases linked to illegal gambling and betting platforms across the country, including the Mahadev Online Book (MOB) app whose main promoters hail from Chhattisgarh.
(With PTI inputs)
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