The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested Sagar Dash in connection with an alleged online gaming and betting scam operated through All Panel Exchange (APX) and related cyber-fraud activities, the agency said in a press release issued on Saturday, October 31. Dash was arrested on October 27 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, by the ED's Mumbai Zonal Office-II, and a Special Court in Mumbai has remanded him to three days of ED custody.

Source: IANS via The Freedom Press

According to the ED, the investigation was initiated on the basis of three FIRs registered in connection with online gaming, betting and cyber-fraud cases in which complainants were allegedly cheated of crores of rupees. The agency said the proceeds of the alleged fraud were routed through multiple mule bank accounts via Jubilee Hills Mercantile Cooperative Bank in Hyderabad, before being transferred to various shell entities.

The ED further alleged that significant amounts from those shell entities were subsequently deposited into the nodal account of Nagarbhavi Credit Cooperative Society in Bengaluru, an account maintained for Armstrong Exchange Private Limited, a company floated by Dash. The agency alleged that Dash used the KYC details and fabricated documents of the cooperative society to open a cryptocurrency account.

Source: The World Opinion

"Investigation has revealed that Nagarbhavi Credit Cooperative Society's KYC and fabricated documents were used by Sagar Dash to open a crypto account," the ED said. The agency alleged that Dash routed approximately hundreds of crores of rupees through the cooperative society's bank account, a substantial portion of which was directly linked to the proceeds of crime generated through illegal online gaming and betting platforms that targeted unsuspecting victims through cyber scams. These are the agency's allegations; the case is under investigation.

Earlier in the probe, the ED conducted searches at multiple locations in Pune, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Surat and Mehsana in Gujarat, which led to the seizure of incriminating documents and the freezing of approximately Rs 9 crore lying in multiple bank accounts. Ram U. Ramdhani, CEO of Adsom Fintech Private Limited, was also arrested earlier in the same case, the agency said.

Source: IANS via HiIndia