Bookies in Mumbai have now opened accounts on international official betting websites to accept bets for the upcoming World Cup and have deposited lakhs of pounds sterling into these accounts. To evade the scanner of the Enforcement Directorate, associates in Dubai have been asked to make the online deposits and hard cash has
been sent through hawala operators, city bookies said. “This is, after all, the World Cup. For an event of this scale we want to expand. We shall not only accept local bets but also accept bets internationally on official betting websites. We have deposited a lot of money in the accounts of these websites and have obtained the passwords for these accounts,” said one bookie.
According to the bookie, a London-based website, www.betfair.com [1], is being extensively used by Indian bookies. “For opening an account on these websites, we have to deposit a huge sum of up to several lakhs of pounds as they do not give credit to bookies. We can deal only till our deposits last,” he said.
However, there is a catch to opening such accounts. Another bookie said it was not easy for them to open accounts on the above-mentioned website through banking channels as it would attract the attention of officials of the ED, which monitors international banking transactions. “We asked our associates in Dubai to make payments to these websites through their bank accounts. After that, in return for their payments on our behalf, we sent them the money through hawala channels in cash. For us, the important thing is to obtain the password that will allow us to trade on the websites,” he said.
According to the bookies, another benefit of opening accounts with international websites is the transparency of accounts. “Everything is managed online, which means we can forego the headache of being compelled to keep manual accounts. Also, all the claims are settled on the spot as no credit is given on these sites. Locally, we give credit to trusted punters due to the relationships that we have developed with them over the years. But in the online business you can gamble only till your deposits last,” he said.
Bookies pointed out that it is only the exchequer who will be at the losing end in this betting business. “The people who are interested are going to place bets on matches anyway, irrespective of the fact that betting (except horse racing) is illegal in India. But if the government makes betting legal, like in Western countries where the bookies or the portals that accept bets pay legal taxes, several crores of rupees can be recovered in the form of tax,” he said.
When confronted with this information, additional commissioner of police (crime) Deven Bharti said, “We’re working on it. We will take appropriate action at the appropriate time.”
Links:
[1] http://www.betfair.com