ED Charges EaseMyTrip Co-founder in Betting App Case

The Enforcement Directorate has formally charged EaseMyTrip co-founder Nishant Pitti in the Mahadev online betting app money laundering investigation. Pitti is accused of facilitating the integration of illegal betting proceeds into the equity market under the guise of foreign portfolio investments.

What Happened

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a chargesheet against Nishant Pitti, co-founder of EaseMyTrip, in connection with the Mahadev online betting app money laundering case. The federal agency alleges that Pitti facilitated the entry of illicit betting proceeds into the equity market, disguised as foreign portfolio investments, according to ThePrint. The charges were included in the fifth supplementary chargesheet submitted to a special court in Raipur, Chhattisgarh, on September 10.

Concurrently, the ED provisionally attached Pitti’s DEMAT shares valued at Rs 59.60 crore under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The agency has requested court approval to confiscate these shares, identifying them as “proceeds of crime” under anti-money laundering legislation. Pitti, aged 40 and serving as chairman-cum-managing director at EaseMyTrip, was among 42 individuals and companies named in this chargesheet, ThePrint reported.

Key Details

• Nishant Pitti was charged with “facilitating” the movement of illegal betting proceeds into the equity market as foreign portfolio investments, as per the ED (ThePrint).
• The ED provisionally attached Pitti’s DEMAT shares worth Rs 59.60 crore via an order issued under the PMLA (ThePrint).
• The charges against Pitti were included in the fifth supplementary chargesheet filed on September 10 before a special PMLA court in Raipur, Chhattisgarh (ThePrint).
• Pitti was reportedly a “close associate” of Hari Shankar Tibrewal, owner of the Skyexchange betting platform, and allegedly involved in a pre-arranged stock price “manipulation” deal for Easy Trip Planners Ltd shares (ThePrint).
• The Mahadev app, promoted by Sourabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal, is alleged to have generated proceeds of crime totaling Rs 80,000 crore since 2019 (ThePrint).
• The ED states Skyexchange, operational since 2016, has generated approximately Rs 12,000 crore in proceeds of crime (ThePrint).

Why It Matters

This development signifies an expansion of the ongoing investigation into the Mahadev online betting app network, involving high-profile individuals associated with regulated businesses. The ED’s allegations of using foreign portfolio investments to funnel illicit funds into the Indian equity market highlight concerns regarding financial market integrity and the potential for money laundering through sophisticated mechanisms. The attachment of shares and the naming of individuals like Pitti, associated with a publicly listed company, underscore the regulatory scrutiny on the interplay between offshore betting operations and domestic financial systems. The case against Vikas Garg, EBIX Group Chairman, also named in the chargesheet, further illustrates the breadth of the probe into individuals allegedly linked to Tibrewal’s financial network, according to ThePrint.

Originally reported by ThePrint·Published 21 Sep 2026, 13:16