ED grills casino organiser Chikoti Praveen again, this time for 7 hours over ‘benami’ transactions

Chikoti Praveen was among the 80 people — including Indians — arrested by the Thailand police for indulging in gambling in a star hotel.

Published May 16, 2023 | 1:49 AMUpdated May 16, 2023 | 1:50 AM

ED grills casino organiser Chikoti Praveen again, this time for 7 hours over ‘benami’ transactions

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Hyderabad on Monday, 15 May, grilled casino organiser Chikoti Praveen Kumar for over seven hours in connection with alleged benami transactions carried out by him while purchasing an SUV in violation of norms.

With the help of a questionnaire, the ED officials were believed to have grilled him about benami transactions, along with his involvement in the casino organised in Thailand a few days ago.

Praveen arrested in Thailand

Praveen was among the 80 people — including Indians — arrested by the Thailand police for indulging in gambling in a star hotel.

A day after he returned to Hyderabad after being released on bail in Thailand, the ED summoned Praveen to its office in Basheerbagh for questioning.

After attending day-long questioning, Praveen came out of the office in the evening.

This was not the first time that the ED questioned him.

In August 2022, it questioned Praveen and his aide Madhava Reddy in connection with Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) violations.

Also read: ED sleuths grill brothers of Srinivas Yadav in Chikoti Praveen case

Proof they need

With the help of information collected from Praveen’s laptop and mobile phone, which were seized after simultaneous raids conducted at over eight places in the two Telugu states in July 2022, the ED officials questioned him and collected information.

The ED mainly focused on his client list and transactions carried out through hawala operators in Begum Bazar and Secunderabad.

The WhatsApp chats on his mobile phone became crucial for the ED.

Praveen and his aide Reddy were facing allegations of transferring prize money won in gaming through hawala channels.

Also Read: Googee Properties raided in renewed I-T crackdown on Hyd realtors

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