ED seizes cryptocurrency worth Rs 90 crore in investigation against online gaming app

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has seized nearly ₹90 crore from cryptocurrency wallets of exchanges including Binance and ZebPay, as part of an ongoing money laundering investigation linked to the online gaming app ‘E-Nugget’.

The scam app, posing as a gaming platform, promised high returns to users. Following an FIR registered at Kolkata’s Park Street Police Station, the ED initiated proceedings under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Investigators said the app collapsed after users deposited funds, leaving them unable to recover their investments.

The ED first exposed the app’s activities in 2022, revealing that a portion of the alleged proceeds of crime had been invested in digital assets. Authorities identified over 2,500 dummy bank accounts during the investigation. Based on data gathered from Binance and other platforms, the agency froze nearly ₹90 crore across 70 accounts allegedly linked to the scheme.

Two individuals, Aamir Khan and Romen Agarwal, have been arrested, and a chargesheet has been filed. So far, the ED has seized, attached or frozen assets worth a total of ₹163 crore in this case, including cash, cryptocurrencies, bank balances and physical office properties.

The ₹90 crore seizure is part of broader enforcement actions under PMLA, which, according to official data presented in the Lok Sabha, has resulted in the attachment or seizure of ₹936 crore worth of assets across multiple cases involving various exchanges.