Cold case heats up: India’s Hyderabad reopens $53M probe into Chinese betting scam
Nearly four years after a case was filed against Chinese-run illegal betting apps linked to a massive money laundering racket, the cybercrime police of southern India’s Hyderabad city have re-registered the case and resumed investigations. The case involves suspicious transactions worth ₹443 crore (approximately US$53 million) allegedly routed to Hong Kong-based firms via Indian shell companies.
The case first came to light in July 2020 when a Hyderabad resident reported losing ₹97,000 (around US$11,600) while playing a colour prediction game hosted on a Chinese betting platform. Based on this, the Hyderabad cybercrime police registered a cheating case on 25 July 2020 under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Gaming Act.
Subsequently, on 17 August 2020, probe agency Enforcement Directorate (ED) Hyderabad initiated an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) to investigate alleged online betting operations involving Chinese individuals and entities.
ED’s 2021 complaint raised red flags
The case gained further momentum when ED Deputy Director B S Saravana Kumaran filed a formal complaint on 9 September 2021. The ED alleged that Chinese-owned betting apps operating illegally in India were collecting funds through gambling and transferring them abroad under the pretext of payments for cloud services and freight forwarding.
According to the complaint, funds were moved through several Indian firms based in Delhi and Mumbai—namely Great Trans International, Asia Pacific Cargo Company, Radiant Spark Technology, Achiever Biz International, Connecting Worldwide, and Genex Shipping Private Ltd.
“The addresses of all the said companies were found to be fake, and summons sent to them remained undelivered,” the ED stated.
The ED traced over ₹85.95 crore (US$10.3 million) in fund transfers from two Gurgaon-based companies—Linkyun Technology Private Ltd and Dokypay Technology Private Ltd—to the six Indian entities mentioned above. The total sum routed to Hong Kong was pegged at ₹443 crore.
“The Chinese directors of Linkyun and Dokypay have absconded, raising further suspicions about the operations. The money trail investigation showed that funds collected through banned Chinese betting apps were channelled through e-wallets and remitted to Hong Kong-based firms,” the ED said in its complaint.
Why did the case stall?
Despite the ED’s detailed findings and financial trail, the original probe by Hyderabad’s Central Crime Station (CCS) saw little progress. A chargesheet was filed in 2021 against 14 individuals, including Chinese national Yan Hao, but no arrests were made.
A senior cybercrime official acknowledged this gap: “No arrests have been made by the CCS in the case. They issued notices to some of the accused and recorded their statements. We will now look into the evidence gathered so far and decide on the future course of investigation.”
Case officially reopened
With overlaps between the ED’s complaint and the original 2020 cybercrime case, the Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) transferred the probe back to the cybercrime division. On 3 May 2025, the case was re-registered under IPC sections 420 (cheating), 465 (forgery), 468 (forgery for the purpose of cheating), 471 (using forged document as genuine), and 34 (common intention).
With the case now back with the cybercrime team, officials are expected to review financial records, digital footprints, and evidence collected over the years as part of a renewed investigation.
