Hyderabad: Four persons, among them a Chinese citizen, were arrested after Hyderabad police received complaints from two people that they had been cheated on an online gaming website and lost Rs 1,64,000 and Rs. 97,000 respectively,
The online game was being organized through the initiation of prospective gamers through Telegram groups. Entry was by reference only with a commission to reference member.
They changed websites on a daily basis. In this format, placed bets on colors in a game called Color Prediction. The bank accounts and payment gateways were linked to several companies. The effort of the group is to constantly establish new companies and more operations from one company to other,” the police said.
According to Hyderabad City Police Tweet/post
A case was registered vide Cr.No. 1432/2020 and Cr.No.1580/2020 wherein the complaints informed that they were cheated in online gaming on the website and lost Rs.97,000 and Rs.1,64,000/- respectively. The cases were registered under Telangana Gaming Act, Section 420 and 120 (B) IPC.
M.O. & Investigation:
During Investigation it was found that online gaming was being organized by initiating prospective gamers through telegram groups. Entry is by reference only and members who introduce a certain member of new members are paid a Commission. On these groups the admins will usually indicate the websites on which the registered members can play games and place wagers/bets. These websites would be changed on a daily basis. In this particular format it was found that players would place bets on colours in a game called Colour Prediction.
Investigation revealed that the bank Accounts and payment gateways were linked to the companies Linkyun, Dokypay and SpotPay and several other companies.
The effort of the group is to constantly establish new companies and more operations from one company to other. The names of some of the companies linked with these operations / directors / shareholders.
- 1. Growing Infortech Pvt Ltd
- 2. Sily Consulting Services Pvt Ltd
- 3. Pan Yun Technology Services
- 4. Linkyun Technology Pvt Ltd
- 5. Dokypay Technology Pvt Ltd
- 6. SpotPay Technology India Pvt Ltd
- 7. Daisylink Financial Pvt Ltd
- 8. Huahuo Financial Pvt Ltd
The Domain Name Servers of the gaming websites are based out of China and the Data hosting services is Cloud based in US and operated from China. The entire technical operation is run by the China based directors/partners of these companies.
The payments were being routed through India based payment service providers/gateways. In this case it was presently PayTM and Cash Free. It is understood from the investigation so far that the companies are controlled through a firm called as Beijing T Power Company based out of China.
The total value of inward transaction on the two accounts traced so far is nearly Rs. 1100 Crores majority of which is in the year 2020. Most of the remittances have been transferred to different other accounts which are being traced and some of the accounts are Overseas. Total overseas remittances known as of now is nearly Rs. 110 Crores. The group was planning to register a company in Cayman Islands.
The amount which is frozen in bank accounts so far during investigation is nearly (30) Crores.
The Investigation has led to apprehension of the following:
- 1.Yah Hao National of China (Head of Operations for South East Asia Authorized Signatory)
- 2. Dheeraj Sarkar R/O Gurugram (Director)
- 3. Ankit Kapoor R/O Delhi (Director)
- 4. Neeraj Tuli R/O Delhi (Director)
In recent times cases of suicide due to online betting were reported from the state and other parts of the country which will be investigated from this angle. It is also learnt that these groups are possibly involved in other Cyber Crime activities like Phishing, running banned apps and dating apps etc.
It was found that there were nearly (28) complaints from different states regarding their activity. The concerned will be informed for action at their end. Co-operation will be sought from other agencies for evaluating financial transaction and compliance with other laws. Further investigation is in process.
Commissioner of Police,
Hyderabad city.