NEW DELHI: Former Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday for questioning in connection with a money laundering investigation linked to the online betting platform 1xBet, officials confirmed.

The 43-year-old all-rounder arrived at the ED office in central Delhi around noon, where he was questioned and recorded his statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Influencer Anveshi Jain also appeared for questioning in the same case.

Over the past few weeks, the ED has questioned several high-profile individuals as part of the probe, including former cricketers Suresh Raina, Shikhar Dhawan, and Robin Uthappa, as well as former TMC MP and actor Mimi Chakraborty and Bengali actor Ankush Hazra.

Actor Sonu Sood is scheduled to appear before the ED on Wednesday in connection with the investigation.

The ED’s investigation into the 1xBet betting app forms part of a broader probe into such platforms, amid allegations that they duped people of crores of rupees and evaded substantial direct and indirect taxes.

According to 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 the company information available on its website.

Some other sportspersons, movie actors, online influencers and celebrities are expected to be questioned by the agency in the coming days as part of this probe.

The ED's line of investigation, according to sources, is to know from the celebrities as to how they were contacted by the said betting company seeking their endorsement, the nodal person(s) for contact in India, the mode of payment (cash through hawala or banking channel) and place of the payment (in India or abroad), etc.

The agency, while recording the statements of the cricketers and actors, is understood to be asking them if they knew that online betting and gaming was illegal in India. It has also asked them to furnish a copy of their contracts and all relevant email and paper documentation made by them with 1xBet.

The agency is also looking at 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.

The Union government recently banned real money online gaming in India by bringing a legislation.

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.

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 till June 2025 to block online betting and gambling platforms.

(With PTI Inputs)