ED nabs 3 founders of Gameskraft; RummyCulture owners arrested in Rs 18 crore PMLA probe

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested three founders of online gaming firm Gameskraft Technologies Pvt Ltd on Friday in a high-stakes money laundering investigation tied to alleged cheating and fraud, agency officials confirmed.

Deepak Singh and Prithvi Raj Singh were apprehended in the Delhi-NCR region, with ED securing transit remand to produce them before a Bengaluru court. Vikas Taneja, the third founder, was nabbed directly in Bengaluru and appeared before a local magistrate. All three were taken into custody under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The crackdown follows ED's filing of a PMLA complaint against Gameskraft and linked entities, stemming from multiple police FIRs accusing the platform of duping users. Gameskraft operates real-money gaming apps like RummyCulture and RummyTime, which have faced scrutiny over user losses leading to suicides, as per agency sources.

Raids swept 17 locations across Delhi-NCR and Karnataka on Thursday, yielding key documents. In November 2025, ED had frozen eight escrow bank accounts holding Rs 18.57 crore in user deposits as part of the ongoing probe.

Officials described the case as exposing systemic fraud in the online gaming sector, where platforms allegedly manipulated outcomes to siphon funds. Gameskraft, backed by significant investments, has not commented publicly. The arrests signal ED's renewed push against digital gaming irregularities amid rising regulatory heat on the industry.

The Bengaluru court remanded the accused to ED custody, with further interrogations expected to uncover the money trail.
(With PTI inputs)