Indian authorities continue to crack down on gambling operations they fear are originating out of China. 15 different locations have been raided, and Chinese national are accused of running both illegal gambling and online dating rings.
The Times of India reports the Enforcement Directorate also seized Rs 47 crore (approximately $6.38 million) from HSBC Bank accounts tied to the operations. Raids were conducted in Delhi, Gurgaon, Mumbai and Pune on August 28. The entire network is suspected to have collected as much as Rs 1,300 crore ($176 million) from Indians.
The investigation began because the ED noticed payment gateways were failing to report suspicious transactions. “There is a suspicion that, apart from indulging in banned activities like online betting, this network of companies with their reliance on online wallets and their lax regulatory systems could have been used for hawala transactions as well. The ED is in the process of obtaining information from online wallet companies, HSBC Bank, Registrar of Companies etc,” the ED announced.
“With the help of Indian chartered accountants, some Chinese nationals floated multiple Indian companies, initially kept dummy Indian directors to incorporate the companies and later replaced them with Chinese nationals who travelled to India for this purpose,” they added.