The Enforcement Directorate (ED) said in its charge sheet that the Fairplay website, who was allegedly involved in illegal broadcasting IPL matches in 2023, appointed top personalities like Ranbir Kapoor and Sanjay Dutt to make the perception of ‘validity and mainstream acceptance’.
The ED filed a charge sheet against the recently arrested people and 11 accused, including firms associated with the scam, including Chirag Shah and Chintan Shah.
The website is accused of illegally livestreaming the Indian Premier League (IPL) matches and causing heavy commercial damage to Viacom 18. AC Daga, Special Judge of Affairs under the Money Prevention Act (PMLA), took cognizance of the charge sheet on Friday.
The case of ‘Money Laundering’ being investigated by the ED started with an FIR in the Mumbai Police Cyber Unit, which was registered for the loss of revenue against Fairplay Sport LLC and others on the complaint of Viacom 18 Media Private Limited.
The charge sheet states, “Fairplay adopted a marketing strategy in which top -level celebrities were appointed as brand ambassadors. This created a notion of validity and mainstream acceptance that attracted a large number of users. ,
The Mumbai Cyber Police in its investigation found that many top Indian celebrities advertised and promoted the fairplay app in India.
The charge sheet states, “Celebrity actor – Sanjay Dutt, Jacqueline Fernandez, Ranbir Kapoor, Varun Dhawan, Shraddha Kapoor, Kiara Advani, besides players Saina Nehwal, MC Mary Kom, Mithali Raj and two cricketers AB de Villiers and Grame Smith and singer Badshah were made brandeds. ,
It states that these celebrities compromised with foreign institutions and Indian companies and firms advertised and promoted the app.
According to the charge sheet, the website also carried out extensive digital marketing campaigns on social media platforms, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and other social media platforms. The website sponsored various local and international sports tournaments.(Language)
