Hyderabad, Jul 30 (PTI) Actor Prakash Raj on Wednesday appeared before the ED officials here for questioning in a money laundering case linked to illegal online betting and gambling by certain platforms.

The actor, mainly popular in Telugu, Kannada and other South Indian films, appeared before the officials of the probe agency at its zonal office here.

Besides Raj, the ED had also summoned actors Rana Daggubati, Vijay Deverakonda and Lakshmi Manchu for questioning in the case.

The agency asked Daggubati (40) to appear before the zonal office here on July 23, Raj (60) on July 30, Deverakonda (36) on August 6 and Lakshmi (47) on August 13.

The actors had "endorsed" online betting apps allegedly involved in generating "illicit" funds, official sources had said.

However, the ED gave a fresh date of August 11 to actor Daggubati after he failed to appear on July 23, seeking deferment of the summons.

During their appearance, the agency is expected to record the statements of the actors under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The ED had taken cognisance of as many as five state police FIRs to register its case against these actors and a number of other celebrities and social media influencers.

These individuals are suspected to have "endorsed" online betting apps like Junglee Rummy, JeetWin, Lotus365, etc, for celebrity or endorsement fee, ED sources had said.

These platforms are alleged to have generated "illicit" funds, through illegal betting and gambling, worth crores of rupees, the sources had said.

Some of these "well-known" persons, the sources said, have earlier stated that they did not know the exact functioning of the apps and products dished out by them and claimed that they did not associate themselves with these platforms for any wrongdoing or illegal activity like betting. PTI SJR GDK SJR KH

Money laundering probe: agency examines celebrity endorsements of online betting platforms and related illicit fund links. Investigative proceedings under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act concern whether celebrity endorsements of online betting platforms produced or laundered illicit funds. The agency consolidated state FIRs, summoned several public figures to record statements, and is examining endorsement fees, transactional links, and the summoned persons' knowledge or intent regarding the platforms' illegal betting operations.