ED arrests 3 Gameskraft founders in PMLA case

The Enforcement Directorate ED on Friday arrested three founders of online gaming platform, Gameskraft, in an alleged fraud-linked money laundering case, officials said. Deepak and Prithvi were arrested from the Delhi-NCR region, and a transit remand was subsequently obtained to produce them before a Bengaluru court.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) 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 and Prithvi were arrested from the Delhi-NCR region, and a transit remand was subsequently obtained to produce them before a Bengaluru court. Whereas Taneja was arrested in Bengaluru and has been produced before a court, the officials said. The ED's Bengaluru regional office has also booked them under the money laundering case. The company, headquartered in Bengaluru, could not be reached for comment. However, a message posted on its website said, ''In compliance with the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025, Gameskraft has discontinued its operations until further notice.'' The Centre had banned online money gaming in India in August last year. The company was established in 2017. It reported a net profit of Rs 706 crore on a revenue of Rs 4,009 crore during the 2024-25 financial year, as per reports. The arrests came after the central agency filed a money laundering case against Gameskraft Technologies Ltd and other associated entities, after taking cognisance of multiple FIRs related to suicides linked to alleged cheating and fraud. The ED also raided 17 locations on Thursday in Delhi-NCR and Bengaluru, leading to the seizure of certain documents, they said. As per ED officials, the platform ran and owned various online real-money games like 'RummyCulture' and Rummytime. In November last year, the ED froze eight bank accounts (escrow accounts for payout maintained with various banks) holding deposits worth Rs 18.57 crore in the probe against Gameskraft.