Google deposes before ED over online betting ads, Meta skips summons

New Delhi,UPDATED: Jul 28, 2025 17:25 IST

Tech giant Google appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday in connection with a money laundering probe linked to the promotion of illegal online betting and gambling advertisements, according to official sources. Meanwhile, no representative from Meta appeared for the ED's probe in the same matter.

The central probing agency summoned the two tech giants to appear today after they had requested additional time following their failure to appear on July 21.

Last week, a Google spokesperson said it was "committed to keeping our platforms safe and secure, prohibiting the promotion of illegal gambling ads," reported news agency PTI.

"We are extending our full support and cooperation to investigating agencies to hold bad actors responsible and keep users safe," the spokesperson further told PTI.

The ED has accused both Google and Meta of actively facilitating the promotion of betting applications that are currently under investigation for serious financial frauds, including money laundering and hawala transactions. Authorities allege that these tech companies provided prominent advertising slots and allowed websites linked to these online betting platforms to gain visibility on their respective platforms, thereby contributing to the widespread reach of these illicit operations.

The agency has been meticulously investigating a vast network of online betting apps, many of which are suspected of masquerading as skill-based games while actually engaging in illegal gambling. These platforms are believed to have generated illicit funds worth crores of rupees, often routed through complex hawala channels to avoid detection.

The tech giants are understood to have been called by the ED to know how such illegal platforms place ads on their portals.

The ED has claimed that illegal online betting and gambling platforms cheated people of their hard-earned money, and also laundered and evaded taxes to the tune of several crores of rupees.

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Inputs from PTI, Arvind Ojha