The Bengaluru gaming startup’s co-founders are already behind bars — now the agency has gone after the money
The Enforcement Directorate isn’t done with Gameskraft.
Days after arresting the company’s three co-founders, the federal financial crimes agency has frozen and seized movable assets worth ₹526.49 crore linked to the Bengaluru-based real money gaming platform — and laid out a damning set of allegations about how the company allegedly made its money.
According to an ED press release issued on Wednesday, the agency conducted search and seizure operations between May 7 and May 13 across Gameskraft’s offices and residences of its directors and key employees in Bengaluru and the NCR region. The haul included bank balances, mutual funds, bonds, and fixed deposits — along with jewellery worth ₹3.5 crore and cash of ₹11 lakh.
What the ED Is Alleging ?
The core of the ED’s case is straightforward and serious: that Gameskraft used automated bot accounts to systematically drain money from real users once they started playing with higher stakes.
The agency alleges that genuine users were initially allowed to win and withdraw small amounts — enough to build trust and encourage larger deposits. Once users were comfortable and playing for bigger sums, they were allegedly pitted against bot accounts designed to beat them. “The genuine users were lost to BOT user IDs,” the ED stated.
The total financial loss to users from these alleged practices has been pegged at over ₹1,154 crore.
The agency also claims Gameskraft continued offering its services in states where online real money gaming is legally restricted or banned — allegedly by tampering with users’ geo-location data to bypass those restrictions.
The Brands Behind the Platform
Gameskraft operated its real money gaming business through multiple consumer-facing brands: RummyCulture, RummyPrime, Playship, RummyTime, and RummyCorner. Together, these platforms built a sizable user base in India’s fast-growing online gaming market — one that is now at the centre of a criminal investigation.
Where the Money Allegedly Went ?
The ED further alleges that proceeds from these activities were funnelled into foreign entities, dividend payments, mutual funds, bonds, and movable and immovable properties — a layering pattern consistent with money laundering investigations under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Co-founders Deepak Singh, Prithvi Raj Singh, and Vikas Taneja were arrested earlier this week under the PMLA. The probe itself stems from multiple FIRs filed across several states alleging cheating and unlawful gains through the company’s platforms.
The ED has said further investigation is underway.
The Bigger Picture
Gameskraft has had a turbulent few years on the regulatory front. The company previously fought — and initially won — a landmark legal battle over GST demands worth thousands of crores, in a case that had sweeping implications for India’s entire real money gaming industry.
The PMLA probe represents a different and significantly more serious category of legal jeopardy. Bot manipulation allegations, geo-location tampering, and money laundering charges together paint a picture that goes well beyond a tax dispute.
For an industry that has spent years lobbying for regulatory legitimacy, the Gameskraft case is an uncomfortable reminder of how quickly that narrative can unravel.
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Disclaimer:-
This article is based on an official press release issued by the Enforcement
Directorate. The allegations contained herein are as stated by the ED and have
not been independently verified. Gameskraft has not issued a public response
at the time of publication. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven
guilty in a court of law.
