Actor Tamannaah Bhatia faced questioning by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday regarding her connections to the notorious ‘HPZ Token’ mobile app scam. The probe links her to a high-profile money laundering case in which several investors were allegedly deceived through false promises of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency mining.
The ED recorded the 34-year-old actor’s statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) at their zonal office in Guwahati. Although Bhatia received funds for a ‘celebrity appearance’ at an app event, no incriminating charges have been laid against her, sources reported.
Moreover, the actor is not being questioned as an accused but only for promoting this app. She travelled to Guwahati with her mother to appear before ED. This was Bhatia’s second round of questioning with ED.
Earlier too, the actor has been under investigation for the use of the Mahadev betting app. She was called in by the Maharashtra Cyber Cell in April for allegedly pushing Indian Premier League games on the FairPlay app, which is a Mahadev subsidiary.
For the unversed, through this app, people were cheated of crores of rupees by promising to give 4 thousand rupees per day on investing 57 thousand rupees. For this kind of cheating, fake accounts were opened in different banks in the name of shell companies in which money was transferred from investors.
The accused invested this money in crypto and bitcoins along with investing money on many betting apps like Mahadev. In this case, ED has so far seized movable and immovable assets worth Rs 497.20 crore.
Authorities are looking into the Mahadev betting app controversy, which has attracted a lot of attention. The scam is thought to be worth approximately Rs 15,000 crore. According to reports, the Mahadev app illegally streamed IPL events without permission from Viacom 18, the cricket tournament’s official broadcaster, resulting in significant revenue losses.
According to reports, Bhatia was connected to the FairPlay software, which is alleged to have cost Viacom Rs 1 crore. Her support for the app, a Mahadev subsidiary, landed her in the crosshairs. Over 38 people are involved in the Mahadev Betting App affair, which is connected to a significant financial scam.