Gameskraft founders arrested by ED in alleged fraud-linked money laundering case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday arrested three founders of online gaming platform Gameskraft Technologies Ltd in connection with an alleged fraud-linked money laundering case, according to a PTI report. As per agencies, around ₹1000 crore is involved in online betting and game-linked money laundering network.

The agency arrested Deepak Singh, Prithvi Raj Singh and Vikas Taneja under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), PTI reported, citing officials.

Deepak Singh and Prithvi Raj Singh were arrested from the Delhi-NCR region, following which the ED obtained transit remand to produce them before a Bengaluru court. Taneja was arrested in Bengaluru and has already been produced before a jurisdictional court, the report said.

The arrests follow a money laundering probe initiated by the ED against Gameskraft Technologies Ltd and associated entities after the agency took cognisance of multiple police FIRs alleging cheating and fraud.

The federal agency had on Thursday conducted searches at 17 locations across Delhi-NCR and Karnataka as part of the investigation. According to PTI, officials said certain documents were seized during the raids.

Gameskraft operates online real-money gaming platforms and applications including RummyCulture and Rummytime. The ED is investigating allegations that users were cheated through these platforms, with officials also claiming there are multiple FIRs linked to cases where individuals allegedly died by suicide after suffering losses on the apps, PTI reported.

The latest action marks an escalation in the scrutiny faced by the online gaming sector, which has increasingly come under the radar of enforcement and tax authorities over issues related to betting, financial transactions and consumer protection.

The company had not issued an official statement on the arrests at the time of publishing.

Not the first time under the scanner

In November last year, the ED had frozen eight bank accounts linked to the company that allegedly held deposits worth ₹18.57 crore. PTI reported that these were escrow accounts maintained with various banks for payouts related to the gaming platforms.

Gameskraft has previously faced regulatory and legal scrutiny in other matters as well, including disputes related to GST claims on online gaming transactions. However, the present case pertains to alleged cheating and proceeds of crime under anti-money laundering laws.

The company, in September 2025 had filed a complaint against its former CFO Ramesh Prabhu, who allegedly siphoned off funds amounting to ₹270.43 crore over nearly five years.