The Rs 155 crore financial scam that has rattled the city took a new turn on Wednesday as the Crime Branch officials unearthed a direct link between the prime accused Santosh alias Bunty Rampal Shahu and an on-line gaming racket. Investigators have traced the use of ‘rented’ bank accounts for illegal on-line gaming and betting operations run by a suspect named Govind Tanna of Wardhaman Nagar. According to Crime Branch officials, Shahu acquired 10 bank accounts from residents of the Mominpura area, arranged by one Riyaz Ali alias Mamu. These accounts were opened in the names of poor local residents and handed over to Shahu in exchange for Rs 75,000 per account. Soon after, Shahu rented the accounts to Tanna for Rs 1 lakh per month.

 

The accounts were then used for high-volume transactions linked to illegal on-line gaming and cricket betting activities. The accounts were acquired over the span of three years from 2021 to 2023. The police are suspecting that the financial racket had been operating covertly for a prolonged period. The Crime Branch have now launched a manhunt for both Riyaz and Govind Tanna and suspecting that they at the core of the gaming fraud alongside Shahu. Along with Shahu, Jayesh Rampal Shahu (36) of Kapil Heights, Imambada; Brijkishore Ramvilas Maniyar (59) of Shankar Nagar; Rishi Hitesh Lakhani (21) of Shastri Nagar; Anand Vinod Harde (33) of Surya Nagar, Kalamna, are in the police custody.

 

The police are now probing the roles of these accused in both the financial scam and the on-line gambling network. It may be mentioned that the investigation began when police found suspicious financial activities in two shell companies Kshitij Enterprises and Awadh Enterprises. Kshitij Enterprises was found to have facilitated dubious financial movements for 113 fake entities, while Awadh Enterprises managed transactions for 57 such companies. The police believe the firms were instrumental in laundering large sums through hawala channels. The accused have used ‘stolen’ identities to register these companies. The police officials have uncovered three additional bogus companies allegedly created by Bunty Shahu and his associates, which are now under forensic audit.