The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested three top founders of Gameskraft Technologies Pvt Ltd, an online gaming platform popular in India’s real‑money‑games circuit, in connection with a fraud‑linked money‑laundering case. The move is the latest escalation in the central agency’s widening probe into unfair‑game‑design, alleged algorithm‑manipulation, and the diversion of tens of thousands of players’ deposits to overseas shell entities.
Documents and statements emerging from the case suggest that the Enforcement Directorate suspects Gameskraft of using hidden software algorithms to tilt the odds in its favour, effectively playing against its own customers without adequate disclosure. At the same time, WinZO, another major gaming firm whose founders were earlier arrested, is alleged to have held back around ₹43 crore of player funds even after the Union government’s 2025 ban on online real‑money gaming, raising questions about the security of deposits in the broader sector.
ED searches and investigations—previously carried out at multiple locations in Bengaluru, Delhi and Gurugram—have already led to the freezing of around ₹523 crore in deposits linked to Gameskraft and WinZO, including sums parked in Indian bank accounts and in foreign entities that investigators describe as effectively controlled from India. The latest arrests of the Gameskraft founders follow these earlier actions and are expected to be followed by fresh remand‑and‑custody hearings in a special PMLA‑court.
With the government having tightened regulation on online money‑games and linked‑betting activities, the ED’s crackdown sends a strong deterrent signal to the sector: platforms that allegedly manipulate odds, restrict withdrawals, or launder betting money through offshore structures face not just financial penalties, but direct criminal‑enforcement action against their promoters and founders.
