As per reports, promotions masquerading as entertainment or social initiatives have come under regulatory and legal scrutiny, with the Enforcement Directorate (ED) filing an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) against 29 individuals.

These include film actors, TV personalities, and digital creators for allegedly endorsing illegal betting applications in violation of the Public Gambling Act, 1867.

The ED’s action, initiated under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), follows five FIRs registered across Panjagutta, Miyapur, Cyberabad, Suryapet, and Visakhapatnam.

At the heart of the case are influencer-led endorsements of platforms such as Junglee Rummy, A23, JeetWin, Parimatch, Lotus365, and others, which are suspected of functioning as fronts for large-scale money laundering.

Investigators say the promotions were often disguised as entertainment or social service content, misleading viewers about the true nature of the apps. Marketed as skill-based games, many of these platforms allegedly facilitated gambling under the radar.

One complainant reported a loss of over INR 3 crore after acting on YouTube ads featuring influencers. Several others have also filed police complaints, claiming they were misled by celebrity-backed promotions.

Those named in the ECIR include actors Rana Daggubati, Prakash Raj, Vijay Devarakonda, Manchu Lakshmi, Praneetha, and Nidhi Agarwal; TV personalities such as Sreemukhi, Siri Hanumanthu, Varshini Sounderajan, and Shoba Shetty; and digital creators like Harsha Sai, Bayya Sunny Yadav, Tastyteja, and YouTube channel ‘Local Boy Nani’. Kiran Goud and others linked to the betting platforms have also been named.

Many of those named are expected to be summoned for questioning.

Some have issued statements denying wrongdoing, saying they ended ties with the platforms upon learning of legal and ethical concerns.

The ED alleges these individuals were paid significant sums to promote the apps, which often used binary “yes or no” formats resembling gambling, despite claims of being skill-based.

In a separate development, the ED has also taken action against a betting platform, Probo.

According to a 9 July 2025 press release, the ED’s Gurugram Zonal Office conducted searches on 8-9 July at four locations in Gurugram and Jind, Haryana, linked to Probo Media Technologies and its promoters Sachin Subhaschandra Gupta and Ashish Garg.

Probo, which runs an app and website claiming to offer “opinion trading,” allegedly lured users into gambling through simple “yes or no” wagers. ED officials flagged several violations, including lack of KYC checks, no safeguards for minors, and misleading ads tied to election outcomes.

The company reportedly received INR 134.84 crore in foreign investments from entities in Mauritius and the Cayman Islands. Searches led to the seizure of incriminating documents and digital data, with assets worth INR 284.5 crore and three bank lockers frozen.

Investigations for both cases are still ongoing.