Latest news with #laundering
Hindustan Times
3 days ago
- Hindustan Times
ED grills Suresh Raina for 8 hours in illegal betting apps probe
The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday questioned former India cricketer Suresh Raina for more than eight hours in its money laundering probe against illegal online betting platforms. The agency also recorded Raina's statement under the prevention of money laundering act (PMLA).(PTI) Raina, who was seen interacting with the ED staff and CISF personnel outside the agency's office, marked his attendance at 11 am, and left around 8 pm, PTI reported. The agency also recorded Raina's statement under the prevention of money laundering act (PMLA) for endorsing a sports betting app, which was involved in illegal practices. Raina allegedly undertook certain endorsements for the betting app. The ED interrogated the former Indian cricketer to understand his links with the app, any endorsement fee which he might have received, and the mode of communication used between both parties, PTI quoted sources as saying. Meanwhile, an ED officer said that 'another former Indian cricketer has also been asked to appear before the agency', without naming the individual. The agency, which is calling several celebrities with links to betting apps for interrogation, had also summoned representatives of Google and Meta for questioning as part of the probe. The ED is investigating multiple such cases which involve illegal betting apps, and has also questioned tech firms and media houses' representatives who have received money in the form of advertisements from them. The apps under the scanner have allegedly duped several people and investors of crores of rupees, while also evading taxes. There are around 22 crore Indians using such online betting apps, with half of them being regular users, according to PTI. The online betting app market in India is worth over USD 100 billion, PTI quoted experts as saying. In relation to online betting, the union ministry of information and broadcasting had, in 2023, issued four advisories to newspapers, broadcast news channels, entertainment channels, publishers of online news and current affairs content, online advertisement intermediaries, and social media platforms to not advertise these platforms. However, despite the advisories, celebrities from the entertainment and sports fields continued to endorse such apps, with some of them now being under the ED scanner, according to an officer.
CNA
27-06-2025
- CNA
How suspects laundered over S$50,000 through Sheng Siong teller machines
Scroll up for the next video X How suspects laundered over S$50,000 through Sheng Siong teller machines
Crypto Insight
22-06-2025
- Business
- Crypto Insight
ZachXBT slams Bitcoin bridge Garden Finance for laundering hacked funds
Blockchain sleuth ZachXBT has accused Garden Finance, which brands itself as 'the fastest Bitcoin bridge,' of facilitating the laundering of funds linked to major crypto thefts, including the Bybit hack. In a June 21 post on X, ZachXBT claimed that over 80% of Garden's recent fee revenue stemmed from illicit transactions allegedly tied to the North Korean Lazarus Group. The allegation came in response to an earlier post by Jaz Gulati, a co-founder of Garden Finance, who had recently touted the platform's success, citing 38.86 Bitcoin in collected fees — $300,000 of which was earned over the 12 days ending June 2. 'You conveniently left out >80% of your fees came from Chinese launderers moving Lazarus Group funds from the Bybit hack,' ZachXBT said. Laundering via centralized liquidity ZachXBT further alleged that that a single actor continuously topped up cbBTC liquidity from Coinbase, effectively fueling illicit flows while Garden claimed to operate a trustless and decentralized model. 'Explain how it is 'decentralized' when I watched in real time for multiple days as a single entity kept topping up cbBTC liquidity from Coinbase,' ZachXBT wrote, questioning the project's claims of decentralization. In response, Garden Finance founder Jaz Gulati denied the allegations, pointing out that 30 BTC in fees were collected prior to the Bybit incident. He dismissed the criticism as misinformation, calling the 'fake decentralized' label baseless. Garden Finance claims to enable crosschain swaps within 30 seconds while offering zero-custody risk. According to its Dune Analytics dashboard, the project has facilitated over 24,984 BTC in total volume, equivalent to more than $1.5 billion, across 40,571 atomic swaps. The platform has collected 40.11 BTC in fees to date, with its largest single swap reaching 10 BTC. Cointelegraph reached out to Jaz for comment via X but had not received a response by publication. Crypto founder accused of laundering $530M Last week, Iurii Gugnin, the founder of crypto payments firm Evita Pay, was arrested in New York. He faces 22 federal charges tied to a sprawling money laundering scheme allegedly involving over $530 million. According to the US Department of Justice, Gugnin facilitated stablecoin transactions that enabled clients connected to sanctioned Russian banks, such as Sberbank and VTB, to bypass restrictions and gain access to sensitive US technologies. Prosecutors say the operation ran from June 2023 through January 2025. Gugnin is charged with wire fraud, money laundering, and running an unlicensed money transmission business. If found guilty, he could face a life sentence. Source:
