ED raids Karnataka Congress MLA K C Veerendra in illegal betting case

The Enforcement Directorate raided 30 locations across Karnataka, Goa, Rajasthan and Maharashtra in a money laundering probe linked to illegal betting. Congress MLA K C Veerendra, his brother, associates and casinos in Goa have come under the agency’s scanner

Bengaluru: The Enforcement Directorate on Friday conducted searches in multiple states as part of an alleged illegal betting-linked money laundering case against Karnataka Congress MLA K C Veerendra ‘Puppy’, his brother and some others, official sources said. Veerendra, 50, is a legislator from the Chitradurga assembly seat.

There was no immediate reaction from the MLA on the ED action that came on the last day of the state assembly session. At least 30 locations in Chitradurga district, Bengaluru and Hubballi in Karnataka, Jodhpur (Rajasthan), Mumbai and Goa were covered under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the sources said.

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Five casinos in Goa named Puppy’s Casino Gold, Ocean Rivers Casino, Puppy’s Casino Pride, Ocean 7 Casino and Big Daddy Casino were also raided, they said. The ED sources said the searches are being conducted in a case related to “illegal” online and offline betting.

Veerendra, according to the sources, is accused of running online betting sites like King567, Raja567, Puppy’s003, Rathna Gaming etc. and his brother K C Thippeswamy is alleged to be “operating” three business entities from Dubai named Diamond Softech, TRS Technologies and Prime9Technologies.

These entities are “related” to the call centre services and the gaming business of Veerendra. The premises of a man named Anil Gowda, brother of Kusuma H (who unsuccessfully contested the Rajarajeshwarinagar assembly seat on a Congress ticket), in Bengaluru were also covered, according to the agency sources.