The Enforcement Directorate has arrested three founders of online gaming platform Gameskraft in a money laundering case linked to alleged fraud, highlighting the growing scrutiny of online gaming platforms in India.
Key Points
- The Enforcement Directorate arrested three founders of Gameskraft, an online gaming platform, for alleged money laundering.
- The arrests follow multiple police FIRs related to alleged cheating and fraud associated with Gameskraft.
- The ED's investigation stems from allegations that individuals were duped, leading to suicides.
- Raids were conducted at 17 locations in Delhi-NCR and Karnataka, resulting in the seizure of documents.
- Gameskraft owns and operates online real-money games such as 'RummyCulture' and the rummytime app.
The Enforcement Directorate on Friday arrested three founders of online gaming platform Gameskraft in an alleged fraud-linked money laundering case, officials said.
They said Deepak Singh, Prithvi Raj Singh and Vikas Taneja have been taken into custody under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Deepak Singh and Prithvi Raj Singh were arrested from the Delhi-NCR region and subsequently a transit remand wad obtained for producing them before a Bengaluru jurisdictional court.
Taneja was arrested from Bengaluru and has been produced before a court, the officials said.
Money Laundering Allegations Against Gameskraft
The arrests came after the central agency filed a money laundering case against Gameskraft Technologies Ltd and other associated entities taking cognisance of multiple police FIRs related to alleged cheating and fraud.
The ED also undertook raids in the case on Thursday at 17 locations in Delhi-NCR and Karnataka leading to seizure of certain documents, they said.
Gameskraft's Online Gaming Operations
The platform, as per ED officials, ran and owns various online real-money games like 'RummyCulture' , rummytime app etc.
There are multiple FIRs against the company related to suicide committed by people after they were duped, according to the agency.
In November last year, the agency froze eight bank accounts (escrow accounts for payout maintained with various banks) holding deposits worth Rs 18.57 crore in the probe against Gameskraft.
