GST Intelligence Unearths Rs. 13,000 Crore Illegal Gaming Network; KYC Firm Director Arrested

GST Intelligence officials arrested Pankaj Kumar, the founder and director of Adsum Advisory Service Pvt. Ltd., a company that provides fraud detection and digital KYC verification services.

During the investigation, authorities discovered that he was allegedly involved in a large Rs. 13,000 crore organised racket running illegal online gaming websites with the help of fintech companies such as payment aggregators, payment gateways, and third-party technology providers. Officials claim that Kumar played a key role by conducting fraudulent KYC verification for merchants and shell companies, which allowed these illegal businesses to appear legitimate and operate through RBI-regulated payment systems like banks and payment platforms.

Pankaj Kumar was a director of a company that handled KYC (Know Your Customer) verification. He failed to properly assess the risk profile of customers, especially by not checking their ownership and control structures. Because of this negligence, several shell companies were able to get onboarded onto the platform for UPI integration. These shell entities were then used to move money related to online gaming activities.

Investigations suggest that Pankaj Kumar himself was one of the beneficiaries who received illegal proceeds of crime generated by an online gaming syndicate.

According to an estimate for the year 2025, the total valuation of the online gaming industry in India is around Rs. 2 lakh crore. The Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI), Hyderabad, has started a major crackdown on online gaming syndicates. This action also includes associated fintech companies. Authorities have frozen bank accounts worth about Rs. 100 crore and arrested several masterminds involved in these operations.