Lavish cruise draws attention
A lavish wedding cruise hosted by a fantasy cricket influencer with millions of followers on YouTube and Instagram has tipped Indian authorities off to his alleged illegal online betting activities.
wedding on a luxury cruise in Dubai
Photographs of Anurag Dwivedi’s wedding on a luxury cruise in Dubai on November 22 attended by Bollywood stars brought the 25-year-old influencer’s activities into sharper focus for investigators from the Indian Revenue Service and the Indian Police Service.
On Wednesday, India’s Enforcement Directorate (ED) pounced, seizing four of the influencer’s supercars. Dwivedi took to X on Friday to warn a journalist who accused him of letting fame get to his head in the wake of the seizures of posting defamatory content:
The influencer’s warning to Jaiky Yadav, however, doesn’t reverse the ED’s seizure of his Lamborghini and Mercedes Benz under a sub-section of an anti-money laundering law.
India’s national financial investigation agency alleges Dwivedi purchased the luxury vehicles using proceeds of crime generated via online gambling activities illegal in India.
Rags to flashy riches
Fictitious New Jersey crime boss Tony Soprano once told off one of his mobsters for his flashy new car, stating in an episode of The Sopranos: “That Maserati draws too much attention.”
In Dwivedi’s case it was the Mercedes and other cars he drove through his hometown village roads of Khajur in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh that caught the ED’s eye.
Then Dwivedi went and hosted his headline-grabbing wedding on a luxury cruise attended by multiple Bollywood personalities, with the influencer reportedly covering the travel, accommodation, and hospitality costs for “nearly 100 relatives”
came into contact with “cricket betting networks and suffered losses”
According to the Hindustan Times, Dwivedi’s transformation from a youth cycling the streets of Khajur to a supercar-driving influencer began in 2017-18 when he allegedly came into contact with “cricket betting networks and suffered losses.”
Dwivedi then moved to the Indian capital Delhi where he connected with daily fantasy sports (DFS) platforms including Dream11 and began creating content based on “cricket predictions and fantasy gaming.”
Dwivedi’s videos struck a chord with a wide audience to build him a following of seven and 2.4 million followers on YouTube and Instagram, respectively.
Under investigation
The ED alleges Dwivedi used his high-profile influencer status to promote online gambling sites and that he used his reimbursement to fund his luxury lifestyle.
Senior ED officials stated that several illegal online betting sites using social media influencers to attract most young users are reportedly “routing funds through layered banking channels and shell entities to avoid detection.”
While Dwivedi is believed to be in Dubai, the ED is examining his “foreign travel, overseas transactions and the end use of funds linked to online gaming.” The influencer’s cars will remain in ED custody, as officials look to “identify additional movable and immovable assets allegedly acquired through illegal earnings.”
