The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday conducted search and seizure operations countrywide at 25 locations for forex violations by online gaming apps and websites. The Directorate is probing illegal remittance of Rs 4000 crore sent in the guise of payments for the import of goods and services by foreign registered online gaming companies and websites operating in India.
Searches were conducted on premises linked to several hawala operators, including that of Ashish Kakkar, Neeraj Bedi, Arjun Ashwinbhai Adhikari, Abhijeet Khot and the persons/entities associated with them.
Searches have led to seizure of incriminating documents
Searches have resulted in the seizure of incriminating documents and electronic evidence and the disclosure of interesting modus adopted by them to evade investigative agencies.
The operations were conducted in Delhi (11), Gujarat (7), Maharashtra (4), Madhya Pradesh (2) and Andhra Pradesh (1) on outlets of online gaming companies registered in small island countries such as Curacao, Malta and Cyprus. “However, all of them are linked to Indian bank accounts opened in the name of proxy persons who have no links with online gaming activity,” the probe agency said.
ED also seized electronic devices establishing foreign outward remittances of thousands of crores collected from public through gaming websites using accounts of dummy firms opened in the name of proxy persons.
Probe identified 55 bank accs being used for layering, remitting income
The probe identified 55 bank accounts of firms being used for layering and remitting income generated from online gaming in the guise of remittances against import of goods and services.
ED officials claimed that the amount collected from the public through gaming websites was routed through multiple bank accounts and finally remitted out of India by mis-declaring the purpose of remittances against the import of services and goods. “Remittances out of the income from racing, riding, etc. or any other hobby are not allowed under the provisions of FEMA, 1999,” said an ED official.
Company heads open accounts in name of their employees and sending remittances
According to the ED, hundreds of companies have been opened by key persons in the name of their employees for layering and sending remittances to the tune of Rs 4,000 crore in the guise of payments for the import of goods and services.
Several PAN and Aadhaar cards used for creating such firms and mobiles used for operating bank accounts were also seized.
The probe found key persons were using international virtual mobile numbers for instant messaging apps like WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal, etc. and using pseudo-names such as Pablo, John, Watson, etc. for masking their actual identity.
To escape probe agencies, culprits use remote access apps
“To escape from investigating agencies, they are using remote-based servers and laptops which are being used through remote access apps such Anydesk, Team Viewer,” explained a probe official adding that seizures made include incriminating documents and electronic devices establishing foreign outward remittances of thousands of crores. These were collected from public through gaming websites using accounts of dummy firms opened in the name of proxy persons who are not linked with the gaming activities; Rs. 19.55 lakh in cash, US$2695 and 55 bank accounts have been frozen.
