PMLA Appellate Tribunal Unfreezes Accounts Frozen Over Illegal Streaming of ICC T20 Matches By Magicwin

The PMLA Appellate Tribunal has set aside the continued freezing of three bank accounts in a money laundering case arising from allegations of illegal streaming of some ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024 matches on the Magicwin website.

The tribunal, presided over by Member V. Anandarajan, held that the continued freezing could not be sustained merely because the investigation was ongoing.

“Other than a bland statement that there is a prima facie involvement of the respondent in alleged proceeds of crime, no finding, leave alone a reasoned one, has been recorded that frozen properties were involved in money laundering.”

The case originated from an FIR lodged in June 2024 by the Ahmedabad Cyber Crime Police on a complaint filed on behalf of Star India Pvt Ltd, alleging that Magicwin had illegally streamed some ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024 matches despite Star holding the exclusive broadcast rights granted by the International Cricket Council.

Based on the scheduled offence of copyright violation, the Enforcement Directorate registered an ECIR in August 2024 against the owner of Magicwin and others.

During the investigation, the ED alleged that Shruti Rampal's brother, Sahil Gandhi, was linked to Speedyzone Ecom Pvt Ltd, a company said to have made payouts to winners on the Magicwin website, and that Rampal had invested over ₹1.29 crore in New Spice Solutions Pvt Ltd, where she was a shareholder and business partner with him. On that basis, the ED froze three of her bank accounts along with other properties, digital devices, and records.

The ED alleged that the appellant was the sister of Sahil Gandhi, who was allegedly involved with Speedyzone Ecom Pvt Ltd, a company said to have made payouts to winners on the Magicwin website. It also alleged that she had invested over ₹1.29 crore in New Spice Solutions Pvt Ltd, where she was a shareholder and business partner with her brother.

The ED claimed that during her statement, she failed to explain the source of funds in her accounts and argued that the burden was on her to establish their legitimacy. It also said its investigation had uncovered illegal betting operations linked to the wider case.

The appellant argued that she had no connection with the alleged illegal streaming, betting activity or Magicwin operations, and that her funds came from legitimate salary income and incentives earned through prior employment.

She also contended that the Adjudicating Authority's order was mechanical, unsupported by reasons and merely reproduced the ED's case. She further claimed that the ED had wrongly linked her brother Sahil Gandhi with a person named “Sameer.”

The tribunal noted that she was not named in the FIR relating to the scheduled offence of copyright violation, nor was there any allegation of her involvement in either the alleged piracy or the betting-related allegations that emerged during the ED investigation.

It found no material showing any flow of proceeds of crime into her accounts.

"There is no material to suggest flow of any proceeds of crime from the appellant‟s brother to the appellant herself. In fact, no financial relationship whatsoever between the two has been established by the investigation, but merely a blood relationship which does not lead to any presumption of flow of proceeds of crime from one to the other. The appellant and her brother are unquestionably two separate “persons” within the meaning assigned to that word „person‟ under Section 2(s) of the PMLA. Nothing is mentioned in the impugned order about any finding of flow of money from the appellant‟s brother to her," the tribunal held

The bench also observed that investment in a legitimate business entity, by itself, could not create a presumption of wrongdoing, particularly when there were no allegations against that company.

The appeal was accordingly allowed.

For Appellant: Advocates Harshit Sethi, Mansi Tripathi, Kartik Yadav

For Respondent (ED): Advocate Abhimanyu Kaul