Mumbai: Enforcement Directorate (ED) has conducted searches at 20 premises across Mumbai, Pune, Mahesana, Surat and Hyderabad in an investigation linked to an online betting and gaming racket and
cyber fraud syndicate allegedly involving All Panel Exchange and MGM91.
ED found that funds collected from victims of both betting platforms were routed and ultimately received in the bank accounts of a Pune-based entity Edsom Fintech Pvt Ltd established by Ram Ramdhani.
Edsom had allegedly developed and operated an in-house payment intermediary platform called “iPaisa” through which it onboarded more than 200 shell/front entities — referred to internally as “merchants” — on behalf of online gaming, betting and cyber fraud operators and their agents, referred to as “Channel Partners/Carry and Forward Agents.”
ED said that funds collected from victims of online gaming/betting/cyber fraud platforms were routed through a vast network of mule bank accounts and the controllers of these betting platforms, along with the shell entities used for routing the proceeds of crime, have been identified.
It has also emerged that a significant number of persons involved in operating these online betting/gaming platforms were being directed by Dubai-based persons. The syndicate was further aided by certain cooperative banks, whose infrastructure was used to collect and further layer the illicit proceeds.
