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Showing posts with label Spot Fixing Scandal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Spot Fixing Scandal. Show all posts
Friday, June 7, 2013
Raj Kundra has confessed to betting - IPL Spot Fixing Scandal

Raj Kundra has confessed to betting - IPL Spot Fixing Scandal

Raj Kundra has confessed to betting - IPL Spot Fixing Scandal


Another IPL team owner has been caught betting. After Chennai Super Kings principal and the inoperative BCCI chief S Srinivasan's son in law, Gurunath Meiyappan, was arrested by Mumbai police for being in touch with bookies and placing bets, Rajasthan Royals owner, Raj Kundra, has confessed to the Delhi Police of doing the same.

While betting/gambling is a minor, bailable offence under the CrPC, the BCCI rules are pretty harsh. If an owner is caught betting, his team franchise can be terminated. So, Rajasthan Royals runs the risk of being scratched as Kundra is one of its owners. Meiyappan's status as CSK owner is disputed. If he's found to be not an owner but an important official in the team, CSK won't be scratched but will probably attract a hefty fine.

The Delhi Police commissioner told the media on Thursday that during his 11-hour interrogation on Wednesday, Kundra has confessed to placing bets on his team winning. He said Kundra has lost a lot of money on bets, which other police officers estimate it to be around Rs 1 crore in the last three IPL seasons. He also said that Kundra would place his bets through one Umesh Goenka, Kundra's business partner, whom the commissioner described as a "bookie".

Kundra and his wife Shilpa Shetty went back to Mumbai on Thursday as Delhi police was undecided on whether to slap the anti-gambling laws against Kundra. Police sources said Kundra was betting for the past three years while his friend Umesh Goenka has been betting in matches for past 6-7 years and was also in touch with several bookies. The cops are now trying to ascertain whether the Kundra-Goenka betting link was in any way connected with spot-fixing.

Police also revealed on Thursday that Shilpa Shetty had also placed bets in an IPL match. This was claimed by Umesh Goenka in his statement. Sources said they have identified a "money trail" and the bookies who routed Kundra and Goenka's wagered money. TOI had first reported on Thursday that Kundra was betting on IPL matches.

Raj Kundra reportedly told the cops that being a British national, "he was unaware of the fact that betting was illegal in India". He said that betting was legal in the UK. A policer officer, however, said that ignorance of the law was no defence. In any case, it was strange that Kundra didn't find anything odd in the manner in which bets were placed in India.

Delhi Police sources say that Umesh Goenka, who was given VIP passes by Kundra for every RR match, used to talk to team players and would ask them about team's strategy, pitch and other details and then place bets. Kundra gambled through Umesh, often by giving verbal instructions on the amount he would place and on what. In short, Goenka was acting as a bookie for Kundra.

Umesh, claimed the police, was in touch with many other bookies. "In betting world, if a person bets and when it is taken further (or doubled), words like kha liya (ate it) are used or having won on the initial amount, if he gambles again on the winnings, it would be referred to as badha diya (increased)," said an officer.

Officials said they will question Kundra once again and they currently taking a call on whether to charge him under gambling act or not.

Shilpa Shetty denied the allegations on Twitter saying her involvement in betting was "complete nonsense" and that she had "never bet on any cricket match ever". The tweets were retweeted by Kundra. Earlier in the day, the couple had tweeted denying all allegations. However, Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar came on record to say, "Raj Kundra has admitted to betting. He used to bet on his own team. We have also come to know that he has lost a lot of money in betting. He used to bet through Goenka, who is also a bookie".

Police have confiscated the passports of Kundra and Goenka to ensure that they do not leave the country during investigations. According to sources, Kundra became one of the owners of the team in the third season of IPL.

Reacting to police claims, Shilpa Shetty had tweeted earlier, "we love cricket, it's the passion for the sport that made us a part of IPL. It's extremely disheartening to keep clarifying that. For those who care, my apparent involvement in betting is complete nonsense and I have never bet on any cricket match ever. Truth will prevail. I won't be saying any more as the case is sub-judice."

Police sources said Goenka, who was born in Sikkim, was in the sponge iron business but had suffered losses. As he stayed near the residence of Kundra's mother in West Punjabi Bagh and knew each other, he became family friends and went to London where he met Kundra after his business collapsed. In 2008, he returned and started Ashwani Steel Private Ltd in Ahmedabad in which he has 16% stake while Kundra has 42% stake.

Sources said the name of Goenka, with whom Kundra owns a company dealing in steel business, came during the recording of statement of Trivedi, a prosecution witness in the case. In his statement recorded before a magistrate, sources said, Trivedi claimed that Goenka approached him and sought details about the cricket pitch in Ahmedabad and details about team formations.
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Rajasthan Royals And CSK to be terminated From IPL - Spot-Fixing Scandal

Rajasthan Royals And CSK to be terminated From IPL - Spot-Fixing Scandal


12: 20 pm: How the story of Raj Kundra and Shilpa Shetty went sour
Writing about Shilpa Shetty and Raj Kundra’s sudden descent into controversy, Firstpost’s Sandip Roy writes:
The truth is like the other Bollywood star turned team owners, Shilpa Shetty used her Bolly-glamour to add oomph to her team’s profile when the going was good. Stars don’t just happen to own IPL teams. They are supposed to lend their glamour to those teams and provide them with Bolly razzle-dazzle. And they take full advantage of the insatiable celebrity appetite of a starstruck public and a star-hungry media. A celebrity is always good news fodder. A celebrity getting knocked off the pedestal is even better news fodder.
9.32 am: Rajasthan Royals to be shown the door from IPL?
According to a report on Hindustan Times, while owner Raj Kundra might be let off with a small fine if the betting charges against him are proved, the establishment of his association with the spot-fixing scandal could have adverse effects on the future of Rajasthan Royals in IPL. HT reports:
Kundra’s act has put the very existence of his team, Rajasthan Royals, in danger. In the BCCI-IPL contract, clause 11.3 (c) of the franchise agreement states that a franchise may be terminated with immediate effect if “the franchisee, any franchisee group company and/or any owner acts in any way which has a material adverse effect upon the reputation or standing of the league, BCCI-IPL, BCCI, the franchisee, the team (or any other team in the league) and/or the game of cricket.”
Simultaneously, Chennai Super Kings could face the heat too with similar charges being levelled against Gurunath Meiyappan. HT reports: “If Royals go, the action on CSK will depend on the scrutiny of their franchisee agreement with the BCCI-IPL.”
End of updates from 6 June. 
10.19 pm:  Raj Kundra says don’t misconstrue silence for guilt
Raj Kundra has said that he is soon going to make a statement about his involvement in betting in the IPL and also added that one should not misconstrue his silence for guilt.
7.08pm BCCI’s interim president Jagmohan Dalmiya press conference
“BCCI has appointed Sanjay Patel from Baroda Cricket Association as honorary secretary. There is one more vacancy which we will fill up in two days,” Dalmiya said.
Referring to the three-man commission to probe the IPL betting and spot-fixing allegations, he said, “The commission will now have two retired judges to probe the betting and spot-fixing in IPL.” This means there will be no replacement for Sanjay Jagdale, who was a part of the committee earlier.
The BCCI interim president said that the betting allegations against Rajasthan Royals promoter will come up in the next Working Committee meeting.
“Raj Kundra issue will be discussed in the Working Committee. The Working Committee meeting will be held on 10 June at 11 am in New Delhi. We will look into the details and if it demand any strict action we will look into the matter,” he said.
Answering to a query on legalizing betting, Dalmiya said, “Let us first deal with this. This is far-fetched and premature as of now.”
6:15 pm: Welcome new law to curb match fixing, says Kumar
“A new law is welcome and would make things simpler for the police…There is a very strong campaign for legalised betting but according to me that will not solve the problem,” Kumar said.
He pointed out that the betting would not be carried out except using black money.
We spoke to Goenka and then Raj Kundra and the duo had made identical statements, Kumar said. He, however, refused to speak about the amount that had been bet.
Kundra’s passport had been retained in order to continue the probe further in the matter, he said.
“It is premature to say whether I am giving him a clean chit or not…” Kumar said.  But when pressed the Rajasthan Royals co-owner wasn’t off the hook just yet.
6:12 pm: No evidence to show Kundra made any player under-perform, says Delhi police chief
The Delhi Police chief said that there was no reason for a co-ordinated probe against Kundra since they were completely different cases.
He, however, did not rule out giving the information they had to authorities to investigate allegations of money laundering against Kundra.
“As of now there is no evidence to show that Kundra has influenced any player to underperform,” Kumar said.
You can never tell how things go though, the police chief said.
He also said they were not obliged to inform the media what their next step in the investigations would be, especially whether they would call actor Shilpa Shetty for questioning.
“Merely disclosures made to the police is not enough evidence to go against anybody,” Kumar said.
6:10 pm: No evidence against Kundra, says Delhi Police chief
The Delhi Police chief has said there is no evidence against Raj Kundra in the IPL spot fixing case and since he had confessed voluntarily, they had no other evidence against him.
“Supposing we had him on tape while making a bet or making a transaction and we had recovered the money then it was a different matter. Here is a situation where he come to us and confessed. It is not admissible in a court of law,” the Delhi police chief told CNN-IBN.
“If we had something more like in case of Sreesanth then it would be a different matter,” Kumar said.
The police chief said there was no question of applying the Gambling Act since it was a ‘weak act’ and their case was purely to do with spot-fixing.
5:55 pm: Shilpa Shetty says she has ‘never bet on any cricket match ever’
After her tweets in the morning criticising the media, actor Shilpa Shetty has tweeted a few more times following the new claims and has said that she has never bet on a cricket match and that she and her husband were involved in the IPL because of their love for the game.






5:45 pm: Delhi cops say Kundra lost Rs one crore over last three years in betting 
PTI is now reporting that Raj Kundra may have lost upto Rs one crore during the last three years while betting on IPL matches.

And for all you Shilpa Shetty fans, its confirmed yet again that she may have been involved in the betting.

The Delhi Police isn’t saying though whether they will be calling in the actor for questioning.
5:25 pm: Delhi cops say Kundra may have been betting on IPL matches over last two-three years
A senior police official told CNN-IBN that  Kundra and bookie Umesh Goenka had been betting for  ”the last 2 to 3 years” on IPL matches.
When asked why Kundra had been allowed to leave despite his involvement in betting, Special Police Commissioner SN Srivastava told CNN-IBN, “Our focus of this case is fixing and not on betting. At this stage, the evidence we have against RK and Goenka is that of betting. We are still in the process of collecting more evidence. And we’ll take a call as we proceed.”
Srivastava said that during interrogation it had emerged that besides matches involving Rajasthan Royals, Kundra had also placed bets on matches involving other teams.
“We’d like to ensure that we’re on a good, firm ground and then proceed,” Srivastava said, adding that they would be verifying the claims made by Kundra during the interrogation.
What this means for the Mumbai Police isn’t clear given that their probe is entirely to do with illegal betting. Will they be questioning Kundra and his wife in connection with the bets placed on IPL games? So far they’ve remained mum.
4.25 pm: Chavan applies for bail
Newly-wed Ankeet Chavan, who has surrendered to Delhi court today after he was given bail to get married on 2 June, has now made a fresh application for bail. The hearing is on Friday i.e. 7 June.
Chavan flew from Mumbai to Delhi today as his conditional bail to get married ends today.
3:10 pm: Will BCCI terminate agreement with Royals?
The BCCI has reportedly said that they have taken cognisance of the statements made by the Delhi police commissioner regarding Rajasthan Royals owner Raj Kundra being involved in illegal betting, reported CNN-IBN. 
Following the admission, the BCCI could call for an emergent working committee meeting where it will discuss the allegations against Kundra and whether it is in violation of the IPL agreement with franchise owners.
If the franchise is deemed to have acted in a manner that has an adverse effect on the reputation of the league or the team, the agreement with them could be terminated, said the sources.
Whether the BCCI will go by  purely the Delhi police chief’s statements remains in doubt for now but if the cops are able to provide sufficient evidence to the cricket body, the Royals may just have played their last edition of the IPL .
3:00 pm: Was Shilpa Shetty also betting on team?
And now sources have reportedly told one channel that actor Shilpa Shetty had been betting on the team:

2:50 pm: Cops say they won’t arrest Kundra unless evidence found of spot fixing
The Delhi police has told CNN-IBN that they won’t arrest Kundra unless they find evidence that Raj Kundra is involved in the match fixing that the three Rajasthan Royals’ players and bookies have been arrested for.
Kundra being a UK national won’t affect the probe, the police said. However, whether the Mumbai police will swoop down on Kundra for his involvement in illegal betting remains to be seen.
The cops have also said they will assist the BCCI and are willing to give them all their findings. Wait, didn’t the BCCI say just yesterday that it had completed its probe into the spot-fixing?
2:20 pm : Jaywant Lele asks what the need was for Kundra to indulge in betting



1.20 pm: Delhi Police confirm that Kundra was betting on his own team
Delhi Police commissioner Neeraj Kumar confirmed to the media that Raj Kundra made bets on Rajasthan Royals: “He (Kundra) admitted to betting on his own team. We have also found out that he suffered significant losses while betting. All his bets happened via (Umesh) Goenka, who is a bookie,” he said.
11.28 am: Kundra admits to betting – reports
The latest media reports quoting police sources are saying that Raj Kundra has admitted to betting, but not fixing.
According to Times Now, Kundra had reportedly told Delhi police that if he had been involved in fixing, he would not have lost large sums of money, and that he had proof to back his claim.
10. 45 am: Did Raj Kundra place bets during IPL?
Delhi Police are probing whether Rajasthan Royals owner Raj Kundra had placed bets during the IPL tournament, reports Times Now.
Questions are being raised about Kundra’s business partner Umesh Goenka, who was allegedly taking information from on Kundra’s behalf, the channel reported.
Meanwhile, ABP News have tweeted that according to sources, Kundra has accepted that we has indulged in betting, but not fixing.


Raj Kundra: Image from BCCI
9.30 am: Police confiscate passport of RR co-owner Raj Kundra
Delhi police have seized Rajasthan Royals co-owner Raj Kundra’s passport, and have reportedly not ruled out the possibility of his arrest. Kundra was questioned for 12 hours on Wednesday and initial reports indicated that he would be made a prosecution witness in the spot-fixing case against three Rajasthan Royals players and a number of bookies.
However post the questioning it emerged that Kundra was also possibly under the scanner
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