Asia
Enforcement Directorate Freezes Rs 123 Crore in Crackdown on Chinese Betting Apps
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The Enforcement Directorate (ED), a law enforcement agency of the Government of India that is responsible for enforcing Economic Laws and fighting Economic Crime, announced on Wednesday that it had frozen bank deposits worth Rs 123 crore following searches at 10 locations in Mumbai, Chennai, and Kochi under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act against “Chinese-controlled” betting and loan apps, which allegedly defrauded numerous individuals.
According to a statement by the ED, the searches were conducted on February 23 and 24 at the premises of NIUM India Pvt Ltd and its directors in Mumbai, Xoduz Solution Pvt Ltd, Vikrah Trading Enterprises Pvt Ltd, Tyrannus Technology Pvt Ltd, M/s Future Vision Media Solutions Pvt Ltd, M/s Aprikiwi Solution Pvt Ltd in Chennai and Raphael James Rozario in Kochi.
“The search operations also resulted in the recovery and seizure of several digital devices, various incriminating documents, multiple bank accounts used for laundering, and details of various movable and immovable assets of the accused persons and entities,” the ED stated.
The searches were aimed at “tracing and unearthing the proceeds of crime in the case of illegal online loan/gambling/betting apps through a cluster of mule accounts in Kerala,” the ED elaborated.
The investigation was initiated based on FIRs registered by Kerala and Haryana Police regarding allegations of exploitation and cheating through online loan, gambling, or betting apps controlled by Chinese entities.
“The proceeds of crime generated from the above apps/other platforms are aggregated and laundered through mule accounts opened in various banks in Kerala State using payment aggregators,” the ED explained.
Additionally, funds collected through multiple shell companies in several states, including Chennai, Bengaluru, Delhi and Mumbai, were being remitted outside India through various channels such as cryptocurrency, against fake imports of software from Singapore and Forex currency purchases.
The ED disclosed that the accused had established numerous shell entities in India and used them to transfer proceeds of crime to shell companies established in Singapore. “These Singapore shell entities would raise fake invoices for the supply of software/other services in the name of the shell Indian entities in India, where the proceeds of crime would have already been aggregated,” the statement said.
“These invoices are processed by a global forex settlement platform named M/s NIUM Singapore Pte Ltd. (Singapore), which has an Indian subsidiary Company, namely NIUM India Pvt. Ltd., to collect money from Indian entities based on fake invoices and transfer the same as outward remittances to M/s NIUM Singapore Pte Ltd in the name of payment for technical services. These funds will then be credited to the virtual wallet of Singapore shell entities,” the ED added.
According to the ED, NIUM India collected no other documentation besides the fake invoices from the remitters.
“In this manner, the shell remitter, the shell remittee, and the sham import transactions were concealed from the Bank and monitoring agencies, and the proceeds of crime are thereby laundered out of India,” the ED concluded.
Asia
PAGCOR BRAVES FLOODS TO HELP DISASTER-HIT COMMUNITIES
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At the height of the downpour and massive flooding in Metro Manila and nearby provinces Wednesday, volunteer teams from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) started bringing relief packs to affected communities.
Classes and government work were suspended on Wednesday and Thursday due to the widespread flooding, but PAGCOR volunteers went into action nevertheless.
“Even at the height of the flooding, and even before the President ordered government agencies to provide assistance to affected communities, PAGCOR employees already went to action to help those in need,” PAGCOR Chairman and CEO Alejandro H. Tengco said.
The PAGCOR chief said that since July 24, the agency has delivered more than 21,000 food and non-food relief packs for thousands of affected families.
“After the heavy rains subsided and it was safe to do so, we started bringing immediate aid to flooded communities in Caloocan City on Wednesday, followed by relief operations in Valenzuela, Malabon and Malolos, Bulacan the next day,” he said.
Mr. Tengco added that PAGCOR was scheduled to distribute relief goods to the cities of Marikina and Navotas on Friday as well as to affected towns in Bulacan like Calumpit and Bulakan which were all submerged in floodwater.
“It has been second nature to PAGCOR to immediately respond to the needs of affected communities in times of disasters,” he said.
“We understand that while it is part of our mandate to contribute to nation-building, it is also our moral obligation to help ease the plight of Filipinos in times when they need help the most,” the PAGCOR chief added.
He said PAGCOR’s relief operations are ongoing, with more employees volunteering to help repack relief goods Saturday and Sunday in the agency’s warehouse in Imus, Cavite to support distribution efforts in the coming days in Bataan, Batangas and Cavite.
Asia
AGTech Wins Lottery Terminal Supply Tenders for Shaanxi, Zhejiang and Jiangsu Provinces
![](https://europeangaming.eu/portal/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/4-9.jpg)
Lottery and integrated technology and services company AGTech Holdings Limited (AGTech) has announced that one of its wholly-owned subsidiaries has successfully won procurement tenders to supply lottery terminals to Sports Lottery Administration Centres in Shaanxi province, Zhejiang province and Jiangsu province of the People’s Republic of China.
AGTech already has previous success in the China market, having won a bid in 2018 for supplying its new dual, touchscreen lottery terminals to the Chinese provinces of Guizhou, Shanghai and Hebei.
Even before this, AGTech introduced new instant win games, launched in partnership with Chinese logistics firm SF Holdings across Shenzen, Nanchang, Changsha and Nanjing.
Asia
Philippine President Marcos Announces Ban on POGOs
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Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has banned the establishment of any new Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs), also known as Internet Gaming Licensees (IGLs), with immediate effect. Existing POGO operators will have until the end of the year to wind down their operations.
The verdict, not entirely unexpected, was delivered during his State of the Nation Address in Manila on Monday following widespread pressure from a Senate investigation into illegal POGO-linked activities.
“Effective today, all POGOs are banned. I hereby instruct [gaming regulator] PAGCOR to wind down and cease the operations of POGOs by the end of the year,” Marcos said in his SONA.
The decision to shut down POGOs follows a series of recent raids on illegal POGO compounds in Pampanga and Tarlac amid allegations they had been engaging in human trafficking and scam activities.
A full ban, proposed by multiple senators, had also gained the support of the Department of Finance (DOF) and the National Economic and Development Authority.
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