Yuvraj Singh appears before ED in money laundering case:Former India cricketer joins Suresh Raina, Shikhar Dhawan; Bollywood actor Sonu Sood summoned in 1xBet app case

Former Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh on Tuesday appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for questioning in a money laundering case. Notably, the case is linked to the online betting app named 1xBet, as per the officials. The ex-India batter reached the central agency’s office in Delhi around 12 noon on Tuesday. The agency questioned the all-rounder and left-hand batter and recorded his statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the officials said. Apart from 43-year-old Singh, an influencer named Anveshi Jain also appeared before the ED for questioning in the same case. What was Yuvraj Singh questioned about? As per PTI, the federal agency, while recording the statements of the cricketers and actors, is understood to be asking them if they knew that online betting and gaming were illegal in India. It has also asked them to present a copy of their contracts and all relevant email and paper documentation made by them with 1xBet. Also Read: ‘Unhone IPL me bhi to umpiring karni hai’:Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Akhtar cry foul; blame umpires for Fakhar Zaman’s dismissal The agency is also investigating the end use of the money taken by the celebrities to check if any of them can be categorised as the “proceeds of crime” under the PMLA, according to the sources. Several prominent entities have already been summoned The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has recently questioned several well-known former cricketers, including Suresh Raina, Shikhar Dhawan, and Robin Uthappa, as part of its ongoing probe. The investigation has also seen the appearance of former TMC MP and actress Mimi Chakraborty, along with Bengali actor Ankush Hazra, who were both questioned in the past two weeks. In addition, Yuvraj Singh and actress Anveshi Jain have been called in for questioning, while Bollywood actor Sonu Sood has been summoned to appear before the agency on September 24. The widening list of celebrities indicates the probe’s expanding scope, involving personalities from both sports and the entertainment industry. Why is the 1xBet app under investigation? The investigation into the operations of the 1xBet betting app is part of the ED’s wider investigation against such platforms on allegations of duping several people of crores of rupees. Moreover, it also involves a huge amount of direct and indirect tax evasion. According to the Curacao-registered 1xBet, it is a globally recognised bookmaker with 18 years in the betting industry. The brand’s customers can place bets on thousands of sporting events, with the company’s website and app available in 70 languages, as per its bio data on the webpage. The Union government recently banned real-money online games The Parliament passed the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025, and it became law after the President’s assent on 22 August 2025. As a result, Dream11’s real-money game operations got banned, and central agencies also acted on other such platforms. The ED, during a recent national meeting of its senior officers in Jammu and Kashmir, has also decided to initiate “focused strategies” to investigate financial crimes arising from this sector linked to alleged illegal betting and gaming. Also Read: Yuvraj Singh appears before ED in money laundering case According to estimates by market analysis firms and probe agencies undertaken before the government ban, there were about 22 crore Indian users in various such online betting apps, out of which half were regular users. The online betting app market in India was estimated to be worth over USD 100 billion, which was stated to be growing at the rate of 30 per cent, according to experts.
The government has told Parliament that it has issued 1,524 orders from 2022 to June 2025 to block online betting and gambling platforms.