New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate has dealt a major blow to the Bengaluru-based online gaming firm Gameskraft, freezing bank deposits worth Rs 526 crore and seizing significant physical assets following a week-long investigation. The federal agency concluded its searches on Thursday, reporting the seizure of gold jewellery valued at Rs 3.5 crore and Rs 11 lakh in cash. This extensive operation was conducted under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and targeted several locations across the Delhi-NCR region and the Karnataka capital. The raids, which began on May 7 and concluded on May 13, are part of a broader crackdown on financial irregularities within the high-stakes world of digital entertainment.
In a decisive move following the searches, the central agency arrested the three founders of the company, identified as Deepak Singh, Prithvi Raj Singh, and Vikas Taneja. The money-laundering case against Gameskraft Technologies Ltd and its associated entities was initiated after the agency took cognisance of multiple police complaints alleging systemic cheating and fraud. According to senior officials, the movable assets frozen during the operation include a combination of bank deposits, bonds, and fixed deposits totalling more than Rs 526.49 crore. These measures reflect the government’s intensified scrutiny of financial flows within sectors that have historically operated with significant digital autonomy.
Gameskraft is the parent company behind several prominent online real-money gaming platforms, including RummyCulture and the RummyTime application. The investigation follows a landmark decision by the Indian government in August 2025 to ban online money gaming, a move that significantly altered the country’s digital landscape. The Enforcement Directorate’s current probe suggests that despite the ban and mounting legal challenges, the company may have engaged in deceptive practices to bypass regulatory frameworks. Officials have indicated that the frozen assets and physical seizures are critical evidence in unravelling a complex web of financial transactions that allegedly defrauded users and authorities alike.
As the legal proceedings move forward, the focus remains on the vast amount of capital that moved through these platforms before the legislative intervention. The central agency is expected to scrutinise the company’s internal records further to identify any additional beneficiaries of the alleged fraud. With the founders currently in custody, the case underscores the significant legal risks facing former leaders of the real-money gaming industry. The outcome of this investigation is poised to set a major precedent for how financial crimes are prosecuted in the post-ban era of India’s digital economy.
