The Enforcement Directorate has uncovered a surprising link in its probe into a money-laundering case associated with an illegal betting platform, after discovering that more than Rs 331 crore was routed through the bank account of a Delhi based bike taxi driver over a period of eight months.
Officials revealed that the trail of transactions first surfaced during the ongoing investigation into activities, tied to the 1xbet online betting network. The agency later traced the enormous inflow of funds to a driver, employed with a popular ride hailing service, whose daily struggle was limited to earning enough for basic meals.
Authorities were stunned when they learned that the driver’s account had received deposits amounting to Rs 33136 crore between August 19 2024 and April 16 2025.
After noticing the unusually high volume of money moving into the account, the ED conducted a search at the address listed in his banking documents
Officers found that the man lived in a small two room dwelling in a modest neighborhood of Delhi and spent most of his day riding his bike to make a living. Raising further suspicion, the agency identified that over Rs 1 crore from the massive deposits had been used to settle the bills for a lavish destination wedding, held at a luxury hotel in Udaipur.
Investigators believe, the wedding is connected to a young political figure from Gujarat, who is likely to be summoned for questioning.
The driver reportedly told the agency that he had no knowledge of the transactions nor any connection to the families involved in the Udaipur ceremony.
Based on the pattern of activity, the ED suspects that the bank account operated as a mule account, which typically channels illicit funds without the genuine owner’s involvement. Such accounts are often created using falsified or rented KYC information in exchange for small commissions.
The agency noted that funds entered the driver’s account from several unverified sources, before being quickly transferred to additional suspicious destinations. One of these sources appears to be linked to unlawful betting operations. The ED is currently analysing other incoming and outgoing transfers to uncover the full network behind the transactions.
As part of the wider investigation into the 1xbet case, the agency has already attached properties valued in crores belonging to former cricketers Shikhar Dhawan and Suresh Raina and has questioned multiple celebrities and sports personalities.
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