Casino dealer Praveen Chikoti summoned by ED; claims his business is legal

HYDERABAD: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) summoned Chikoti Praveen, whose residence was raided on July 27 for violating the regulations of FEMA and running illegal casinos, to appear before them on July 31.

The ED seized Praveen's laptop where they found a list of his customers. Some politicians from the Telugu States were said to be all part of this list and 16 customers who attended the Casino event in Nepal were elected representatives. The hawala share of the customers was also found on the laptop.

Reportedly, Praveen was also running a huge deal with a big Chennai-based jewelry businessman. He was also accused of charging different rates to customers from different countries. He ran casinos in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Nepal and customers were sent via private flights.

Praveen reportedly collected Rs 5 lakhs from each customer and had 200+ regular customers. He spent over Rs 90 lakhs on their travel and stay.

Speaking to the media, he said that running casinos in Goa and Nepal was legal. He said that he would cooperate with the ED and appear before them on Monday (July 31).