HYDERABAD: In a major catch, Hyderabad Police arrested four persons including a Chinese national for cheating a number of people by luring them into online gambling. The total business done on this platform was a whopping Rs 1,100 crore. The police froze bank accounts of the accused persons, which contained Rs 30 crore.
The arrested include Chinese national Yah Hao, who was the head of operations for South East Asia. Three others who were arrested — Dheeraj Sarkar, Ankit Kapoor and Neeraj Tuli, all residents of Delhi, served as directors of portals of the illegal business.
Hyderabad Police Commissioner Anjani Kumar said it was found that online gaming was being organised by initiating prospective gamers through telegram groups. Entry was by reference only and members who introduce a certain number of new members were paid a commission. It was found that players would place bets on colours in a game called ‘Colour Prediction.’
Police found that the domain names of the gaming websites were based out of China, while data hosting services were cloudbased in the US and operated from China. The entire technical operation was run by China-based directors or partners of these companies. The payments were being routed through payment gateways like PayTM and Cash Free. The companies were controlled through Beijing T Power Company based out of China.
Anjani Kumar further stated that the total value of inward transaction on the two accounts traced so far is nearly Rs 1,100 crore, the majority of which was in the year 2020. Total overseas remittances known as of now is nearly Rs 110 crore. The group was also planning to register a company in Cayman Islands.