Karnataka court sends Gameskraft founders to 14-day judicial custody in ED money laundering case

A special court in Bengaluru on Tuesday remanded the founders of online gaming platform Gameskraft, Vikas Taneja, Prithviraj Singh and Deepak Singh, to 14 days of judicial custody in a money laundering case.

Principal City Civil and Sessions Court Judge M Chandrashekar Reddy remanded the three accused to judicial custody till June 2, 2026.

Earlier, on two occasions, the court had remanded the accused to the custody of the Directorate of Enforcement (ED). The accused remained in ED custody from May 8 to 19 for interrogation.

The founders have also sought bail before the trial court and the matter is expected to be taken up on May 21. The ED is yet to file its objections to the bail pleas.

Meanwhile, writ petitions filed by the accused challenging their arrests as illegal are also pending before the Karnataka High Court.

On Tuesday Senior Advocate Dr S Muralidhar argued at length on behalf of Deepak Singh, while Senior Advocate Sajan Poovayya made brief submissions for second accused Prithviraj Singh. The matter will be heard next on May 21.

The money laundering case stems from three FIRs registered in Telangana. The ED has alleged that Gameskraft operated online gaming platforms that manipulated gameplay, cheated users through deceptive practices and laundered proceeds of crime through bogus business expenditure entries and cash transactions.

According to the ED, Gameskraft and its associated entities lured users to real-money rummy platforms through bonuses, referral incentives, instant cash offers and tournament benefits.

The agency alleged that new users were initially allowed to win small amounts in low-stake games to build confidence and induce larger deposits, thereby creating a false impression that earning money on the platforms was easy.

The ED also claimed that users complained of one-sided games, suspected use of algorithms and bots, duplication of cards, recurring score patterns favouring certain players, collusion among players, forced logouts and blocking of user IDs, resulting in heavy financial losses.

The ED has further alleged that the directors and founders, acting in collusion with former chief financial officer Ramesh Prabhu, diverted and laundered nearly ₹250 crore under the guise of investments in futures and options and mutual funds.

Deepak Taneja is a director of Gameskraft Technologies and RummyCulture Technologies.

One of the central allegations in the arrest memo concerns ₹100 crore shown as expenditure during 2020-21 and 2021-22 under heads such as “software maintenance” and “consultancy."