Hyderabad, February 19 The DGGI, Hyderabad zonal unit, on Thursday said it has identified an alleged organized syndicate worth Rs 13,000 crore involved in operating "illegal" online gaming websites in the country, with the assistance of associated fintech companies, and has arrested one of the masterminds.
It further said that it has launched a massive crackdown on online gaming syndicates, including action against associated fintech companies, freezing bank accounts to the tune of Rs 100 crore, and has begun arresting the masterminds.
As part of the online gaming investigation, GST Intelligence, Hyderabad, arrested Pankaj Kumar, founder and director of Adsum Advisory Service Pvt Ltd, a city-based firm that provides services for fraud detection and customer verification/digital KYC verification, a release from the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI), Hyderabad zonal unit, said.
"Evidence gathered during the investigation pointed to the identification of an organized syndicate worth Rs 13,000 crore involved in operating illegal online gaming websites with the assistance of associated fintech companies, including payment aggregators, payment gateways, and third-party technology service providers. In this, Pankaj Kumar is one of the masterminds responsible for fraudulent KYC verification of merchants and shell entities on behalf of RBI-regulated entities like Payment Gateways and Banking as Payment Aggregator (BAPA)," it said.
As the director of a company responsible for KYC verification, Kumar "failed" to develop risk profiling of customers based on ownership and control structure and helped in onboarding of shell entities for UPI integration required for the flow of money from online gaming, it alleged.
The DGGI, Hyderabad unit, further alleged that Kumar is one of the beneficiaries who received "illegal" proceeds of crime generated by the online gaming syndicate.
Further investigation is under progress, the release added.