Home ›› 01 Nov 2022 ›› Front
The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) has arrested six people for alleged involvement in laundering around Tk 29 crore abroad using gaming apps as online gambling platforms.
They were arrested from Mohakhali and Uttara areas in Dhaka on Sunday night, RAB legal and media wing director Commander Khandaker Al Moin said at a press briefing at RAB Media Centre in Dhaka’s Karwan Bazar on Monday.
The arrestees are Jamilur Rashid, 31, Simon Hossain, 29, Md Ridwan Ahmed, 29, Md Rakibul Alam, 29, Md Muntakim Ahmed, 37, and Kayes Uddin Ahmed, 32. Among them, Jamilur, CEO of Ulka Games Limited, was identified as the ‘prime suspect’ of the money laundering ring.
Moin said, “Jamilur became acquainted with the founder of Moonfrog Lab, India’s fastest-growing gaming company focused on making mobile games, in 2017. Moonfrog appointed him as its representative in Bangladesh in 2018.”
“Later, Jamirul established a gaming development company named ‘Ulka Games Limited’ in 2019. Ulka Games signed a Tk1.5 crore agreement with Moonfrog for the development of online gaming in the country and got a 0.01% share of Moonfrog. After that, Ulka Games played a vital role in popularising the online gaming platform Teen Patti Gold, a popular card game of Indian origin within a short time,” Moin added.
Then they used the Teen Patti Gold gaming app to spread online gambling, he said.
The official said that the Teen Patti Gold app, a venture of Moonfrog Lab, is usually played on mobile phones. The app also has some other online gambling games called ‘Rakhi’, ‘Andar Bahar’ and ‘Poker’.
“The Teen Patti Gold app has nearly 900,000 regular players and sells gambling chips worth around Tk 3 million every day. At first, the app gives some free chips to new players to lure them to gambling games. Once the free chips run out, users have to purchase more chips using money,” Moin said.
He said the sale of the Teen Patti Gold chips in Bangladesh is handled through 14 official distributors or agents. The distributors have sub-distributors. They collect money from the app users who in exchange get virtual chips.
“Ulka Games authorities collect the money earned from selling the chips from the distributors through various bank accounts. Around Tk 80 crore have been found in four bank accounts of Ulka Games. In the last two years, Jamilur’s Ulka Games has paid Tk 29 crore to Moonfrog Lab through banks. In this way, the so-called gaming company has laundered the money outside the country,” Moin added.
The official said that Ulka Games which has 36 employees spends Tk 30 lakh every month to run the office and pay the salaries. It also gives 30% to 90% annual bonuses to its employees.
