ED, Nagpur Sub-Zonal Office has conducted search operations on 18.08.2026 at 12 premises located in Nagpur, Gondia and Ahmedabad, linked to accused Anant Navratran Jain alias Sontu Jain and his associates, under PMLA, 2002 in connection with an ongoing money-laundering investigation relating to an online gaming and betting fraud involving manipulated gaming platforms, including http://Diamondexchange.com, http://wolf777.com, http://world777.com and others. During the search operations, cash amounting to ₹30.30 lakh, various incriminating documents pertaining to immovable properties have been found and seized. Further, more than 100 bank accounts, mutual funds and share having an aggregate value/balance of approximately ₹5 Crore, along with 2 bank lockers and 3 luxury vehicles valued at around ₹1.70 Crore were frozen.
Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Nagpur Sub-Zonal Office conducted search operations on 18.08.2026 at 12 premises located in Nagpur, Gondia and Ahmedabad, linked to accused Anant Navratran Jain alias Sontu Jain and his associates, under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA), in connection with an ongoing money-laundering investigation relating to an online gaming and betting fraud involving manipulated gaming platforms, including Diamondexchange.com, wolf777.com, world777.com and others.
ED initiated investigation on the basis of FIR registered at Cyber Crime Police Station, Nagpur City, against Anant Navratran Jain alias Sontu Jain and others for offences punishable under various Sections of the IPC, 1860 and the IT Act, 2000.
The investigation under PMLA has revealed that Anant Navratran Jain alias Sontu Jain induced the complainant to invest substantial amounts in online gaming by promising high returns within a short period. The complainant was provided links to illegal gaming platforms, including Diamondexch, Indianexch, Lotusbook and World777, and was repeatedly induced to make further deposits despite suffering repeated losses. The gaming platforms were manipulated in such a manner that whenever the complainant approached a winning position, technical errors or glitches occurred, thereby preventing him from securing the winnings. Through such alleged fraudulent and manipulative activities, the complainant was defrauded of approximately *58.42 Crore.
The investigation has further revealed that the proceeds generated from such illegal gaming activities were collected through multiple channels. The complainant was directed to make payments either in cash through designated couriers, using hawala-style “token” currency notes for identification and reconciliation, or through bank transfers to designated “agent accounts” nominated by Sontu Jain. Several such mule bank accounts, maintained in the names of different persons/entities, were used by the accused and his associates for receiving, layering and laundering the proceeds of crime. Analysis of such mule bank accounts revealed massive transactions running into several crores of rupees which either withdrawn in cash or remitted outside India towards bogus import payments.
During the searches conducted on 18.08.2026, ED seized cash amounting to *30.30 lakh, and froze more than 100 bank accounts, mutual funds and share having an aggregate value/balance of approximately 5 Crore, along with 2 bank lockers and 3 luxury vehicles valued at around 1.70 Crore. Further, 11 mobile phones and 1 laptop containing potential digital evidence relating to the illegal gaming operations and financial transactions were seized. In addition, incriminating documents pertaining to immovable properties valued at approximately 16.50 Crore were also seized. The searches have resulted in securing substantial financial and digital evidence and have furthered the investigation into the alleged generation, concealment, possession, layering and utilisation of proceeds of crime arising from the illegal online gaming operation.
Further investigation is under progress.
Radhika Goyal is Author of Taxconcept Gurugram head office, for deeply reported tax, gst and income tax articles on issues that matter. He splits her time between New Delhi and Bengaluru, and has worked as a reporter, a podcaster and an editor for publications across India.