The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has intensified its nationwide crackdown on financial irregularities by filing a supplementary chargesheet against Nishant Pitti, the co-founder and chairman-cum-managing director of EaseMyTrip. This major regulatory development links the prominent travel tech leader to the sprawling Mahadev online betting app money laundering investigation. Federal investigators have provisionally attached DEMAT shares valued at Rs 59.60 crore under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and are actively seeking judicial authorization to confiscate these assets.
Who is Involved and What Are the Specific Allegations?
According to the federal agency's findings submitted before a special PMLA court in Raipur, Nishant Pitti is accused of acting as a close associate of Hari Shankar Tibrewal, a Dubai-based key player linked to the illicit betting and gaming platform Skyexchange. The investigation outlines that the proceeds generated from illegal online betting networks were systematically channeled into mainstream financial ecosystems. Investigators allege that Pitti directly facilitated the infusion of these crime proceeds into the Indian equity market under the clever disguise of foreign portfolio investments (FPIs). Furthermore, the agency claims that pre-arranged stock manipulation deals were executed to artificially inflate the share price and overall market capitalization of Easy Trip Planners Ltd.
How Has the Enforcement Directorate Expanded Its Probe?
This legal action represents the sixth chargesheet (comprising one main and five supplementary filings) in the wider multi-crore money laundering case. The overarching investigation traces its roots back to October 2022, following initial FIRs registered by the Chhattisgarh Police against the primary promoters of the Mahadev Online Book network, Sourabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal. Across its comprehensive nationwide operations, the ED has targeted multiple corporate entities, conducting searches across hundreds of premises, arresting key panel operators, and attaching assets worth thousands of crores. The current dragnet has also pulled in other notable corporate figures, such as EBIX Group Chairman Vikas Garg, over alleged financial layering schemes connected to the same offshore networks.
What is the Response from EaseMyTrip Management?
In the wake of these regulatory filings, representatives for Easy Trip Planners stated that neither the company nor Pitti had received formal advance intimation of the legal proceedings. In public statements, Nishant Pitti maintained that he was unaware of any formal chargesheet filed against him and noted that he had not received any direct summons from the jurisdictional court. Reaffirming full cooperation with statutory enforcement bodies, Pitti asserted that all his personal assets and business transactions stem entirely from legal, transparent sources of income processed strictly through formal banking channels, adding that he intends to contest any contrary insinuations through proper legal channels.