Online betting racket: Lookout notice against Dubai-based man

Bhubaneswar: The bureau of immigration on Thursday issued a lookout circular against a Dubai-based man for allegedly running an online football betting racket and duping thousands of people of over Rs 1,000 crore in the country, including Odisha.
The economic offences wing (EOW) of Odisha crime branch, which had recently busted the racket and arrested two of their Indian agents from Howrah in West Bengal, had requested the bureau of immigration to get the lookout notice issued against Mohammad Saif.
Though Saif belongs to Delhi, he has been operating the illegal business from Dubai. One of his accomplices is also learnt to have been operating from Hong Kong. The company (www.18football.com) was into betting, gambling and chit fund business, which it was operating with the help of a website registered in Hong Kong. “The company offered hefty interest rates on investments,” EOW’s inspector general J N Pankaj said. The company would lure people to bet on online football matches being played in China to earn quick money.