ED summons Meta, Google over illegal betting platforms

The Enforcement Directorate has summoned Meta and Google officials in a money laundering probe tied to illegal betting platforms. The agency wants to examine how such platforms place ads on digital outlets

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate has summoned representatives of tech giants Meta and Google as part of a money laundering investigation against a number of illegal online betting platforms, official sources said Saturday.

The executives have been asked to depose before the agency on July 21 here and get their statements recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), they said. There was no immediate response from the two companies.

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The federal agency 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 tech giants are understood to have been called by the ED to understand how such illegal platforms are able to place advertisements on their social media and communication links.

Some actors, celebrities and sports persons are also under the scanner of the agency in these cases, and they are also expected to be summoned by the ED soon. 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.