ED attaches over Rs 5 crore assets in online betting, gambling linked money laundering case

The Enforcement Directorate on Saturday said it has attached assets worth more than Rs 5 crore as part of a money laundering investigation against individuals and companies accused of operating illegal online betting and gambling apps.

The central agency's probe stems from a Bengaluru Police FIR that was initially registered by the Directorate of General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) alleging the involvement of companies in online gambling, betting and suspicious illegal activities.

The total value of bank deposits attached as part of a provisional order issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) is Rs 5.87 crore, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said in a statement.

The alleged fraudulent apps were identified by the agency as bestartech, khelo24bet, and betinexchange.

The probe found that multiple companies were registered by the accused Shyamala N and Umar Farooq using documents of other persons, it said, alleging that the HR (human resource) manager of the companies "illegally" purchased many SIM cards and linked them to bank accounts for transacting online.

Group entities such as Rockstar Interactive, Indie World Studio, Falcon Entertainment Agencies, The Next Level Technology, Rift Gamer Technologies, Reality Code Technology, Tenes Solutions, Electronic Virtual Solutions, Zazago Systems, Zynga Interactive, Whale Bytes Technology, Iobitcode Interactive Agency, Oculus Valve Entertainment and Nestra Web Solutions were created with a "fraudulent" intention to collect amounts from the public by cheating them in the name of betting and gambling, the statement said.