The Enforcement Directorate has charged EaseMyTrip co-founder Nishant Pitti with laundering money from the Mahadev online betting platform, filing a fifth supplementary chargesheet before a special PMLA court in Raipur on September 10. The agency attached Pitti's demat shares worth Rs 59.60 crore, allegedly channeled into the equity market under the guise of foreign portfolio investments.
Pitti responded to the chargesheet with a statement denying knowledge of the legal proceedings or any court summons. "I have always cooperated with and shall continue to cooperate with all the law enforcement bodies," he said, vowing to submit evidence of his "bona fide conduct." Easy Trip Planners Limited, his holding company, confirmed it has not received formal intimation of legal action against the firm or its director.
The ED’s case rests on evidence linking Pitti to Hari Shankar Tibrewal, the Dubai-based owner of Skyexchange, another illegal betting platform. The agency has arrested 14 persons in the broader case, which targets the Mahadev app operated by absconding Chhattisgarh businessmen Sourabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal. The platform allegedly generated Rs 80,000 crore in proceeds since 2019, prompting an Interpol Red Notice against the duo.
The chargesheet names 42 individuals and companies, including EBIX Group chairman Vikas Garg, who was arrested in July and is currently in judicial custody. The Delhi BJP stripped Garg of his roles as economic cell convenor and primary party member following his arrest. The ED has attached assets worth Rs 1,885 crore and searched 190 premises in the case, registered in October 2022.
The special court in Raipur will now decide whether to approve the ED’s request to confiscate Pitti’s shares. The agency continues to pursue the absconding operators while expanding its investigation into the network of associates who allegedly facilitated the movement of illicit funds.