ED case against 2 for running illegal gambling services

Panaji: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a prosecution complaint under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, against Hardeep Singh and Ankur Khanna for allegedly illegally operating online gaming services in Goa and elsewhere.

The special PMLA court also took cognisance of the same, and issued notice to the accused persons.

The ED initiated the money laundering investigation on the basis of an FIR filed by Goa police under various section of the IPC, Sections 3 & 4 of the Goa, Daman and Diu Public Gambling Act, 1976, and Section 66D of the Information Technology Act, 2000, for illegal gaming activities and siphoning huge amounts of money through secret networks, thus causing a loss to the state exchequer.

The probe revealed that Singh and Khanna operate a union namely ‘Mini-India’ on the PP Poker online gaming app. Under their union, it was seen that around 25-30 clubs were being operated by different individuals.

“Through these clubs, individual players are invited through WhatsApp chats for placing illegal bets through the poker gaming app PP Poker. It is seen that the commissions were generated @5-10% by the said clubs on each table running in the said clubs/unions,” a senior ED officer said.

The settlement of the commission and the betting amount is done illegally through hawala operators in cash or through anonymous crypto accounts, with each individual player and union headed by their respective club managers.

“Investigation has revealed that Singh and Khanna had also invested proceeds of crime (POC) in the form of crypto accounts, which were traced by the ED,” the official said. “Earlier, the ED had arrested Singh and Khanna, both residents of Kolkata, under the provisions of PMLA, 2002, and also conducted searches on their residential premises and those of other managers/agents in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Goa.”