On Wednesday, actress Lakshmi Manchu appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Hyderabad’s Basheerbagh for questioning in an ongoing money laundering probe. The Gundello Godari actress was issued a summons by the organisation in July, for further interrogation pertaining to her alleged link with illegal online betting and gambling platforms.
Just last week, Kingdom actor Vijay Deverakonda had appeared before the organisation in connection with the same matter. Rana Daggubati was also summoned for questioning on July 23, but sought deferment. The actor appeared before the ED on August 11. The organisation will record their statements under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Prakash Raj, who was also summoned, clarified his stance through X (formerly Twitter), saying that he was associated with the betting app almost a decade ago, but had since stepped away.
Other celebrities named in the case include Nidhi Agarwal, Pranitha Subhash, Ananya Nagalla, Varshini Sounderajan, Vasanthi Krishnan, Siri Hanumanth, Sreemukhi, Shobha Shetty, Reethu Chowdhary, Nayani Pavani, Padmavati, Imran Khan, Neha Pathan, Vishnu Priya, Bhaiyya Sunny Yadav, Harsha Sai, Tasty Teja, Amrutha Chowdhary, and Bandaru Seshayani Supreetha.
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ED sources informed PTI that apps like Junglee Rummy, JeetWin, and Lotus365 were promoted by the above-mentioned celebrities. However, few reportedly claim to be oblivious to the functioning of betting apps and have washed their hands of any wrongdoing.
On the work front, Manchu recently appeared as a contestant on Karan Johar-hosted reality show The Traitors, currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video.