ED Searches 12 Premises in Ahmedabad, Other Cities in Online Gaming Fraud Case

Ahmedabad: The Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Nagpur Sub-Zonal Office, conducted search operations at 12 premises located in Nagpur, Gondia and Ahmedabad, linked to accused Anant Navratran Jain alias Sontu Jain and his associates. The searches were conducted under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA), in connection with an ongoing money-laundering investigation into an online gaming and betting fraud involving manipulated gaming platforms, including Diamondexchange.com, Wolf777.com, World777.com and others.

The ED initiated the investigation on the basis of an FIR registered at the Cyber Crime Police Station, Nagpur City, against Anant Navratran Jain alias Sontu Jain and others for offences punishable under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860, and the Information Technology Act, 2000.

The investigation under the PMLA has revealed that Anant Navratran Jain alias Sontu Jain allegedly induced the complainant to invest substantial amounts in online gaming by promising high returns within a short period. The complainant was provided links to illegal gaming platforms, including Diamondexch, Indianexch, Lotusbook and World777, and was repeatedly induced to make further deposits despite suffering repeated losses.

The gaming platforms were allegedly manipulated in such a manner that whenever the complainant approached a winning position, technical errors or glitches occurred, thereby preventing him from securing the winnings. Through such alleged fraudulent and manipulative activities, the complainant was defrauded of approximately ₹58.42 crore.

The investigation has further revealed that the proceeds generated from such illegal gaming activities were collected through multiple channels. The complainant was directed to make payments either in cash through designated couriers, using hawala-style “token” currency notes for identification and reconciliation, or through bank transfers to designated “agent accounts” nominated by Sontu Jain.

Several such mule bank accounts, maintained in the names of different persons and entities, were allegedly used by the accused and his associates for receiving, layering and laundering the proceeds of crime. Analysis of these mule bank accounts revealed massive transactions running into several crores of rupees, which were either withdrawn in cash or remitted outside India towards bogus import payments.

During the searches conducted on August 18, 2026, the ED seized cash amounting to ₹30.30 lakh and froze more than 100 bank accounts, mutual funds and shares with an aggregate value/balance of approximately ₹5 crore. It also froze two bank lockers and seized three luxury vehicles valued at around ₹1.70 crore.

Further, 11 mobile phones and one laptop containing potential digital evidence relating to the illegal gaming operations and financial transactions were seized. In addition, incriminating documents pertaining to immovable properties valued at approximately ₹16.50 crore were also seized.

The searches resulted in the securing of substantial financial and digital evidence and furthered the investigation into the alleged generation, concealment, possession, layering and utilisation of proceeds of crime arising from the illegal online gaming operation.

Further investigation is in progress. DeshGujarat