GST intelligence arrests Adsum Advisory director in ₹13,000 crore online gaming probe
HYDERABAD: The Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI), Hyderabad, has arrested Pankaj Kumar, founder and director of Adsum Advisory Service Pvt Ltd, in connection with an investigation into illegal online gaming operations.
The firm provides fraud detection and customer verification, including digital Know Your Customer (KYC) services.
Investigators said evidence gathered so far points to an organised syndicate worth ₹13,000 crore allegedly operating illegal online gaming websites with the assistance of associated fintech companies. These include payment aggregators, payment gateways and third-party technology service providers.
Officials said Pankaj Kumar was among the masterminds allegedly responsible for fraudulent KYC verification of merchants and shell entities on behalf of Reserve Bank of India (RBI)-regulated entities, including payment gateways and Banking as Payment Aggregator (BAPA).
Failure to conduct risk profiling
According to investigators, as director of a company entrusted with KYC verification, Kumar failed to develop risk profiling of customers based on ownership and control structure. He allegedly facilitated the onboarding of shell entities for Unified Payments Interface (UPI) integration, enabling the flow of money linked to online gaming operations.
Officials alleged that he was one of the beneficiaries who received illegitimate proceeds generated by the online gaming syndicate.
Massive crackdown on fintech links
As per estimates for 2025, the gross valuation of the online gaming industry in India stands at around $23 billion, or approximately ₹2 lakh crore.
DGGI Hyderabad has launched a large-scale crackdown on online gaming syndicates. The agency has taken action against associated fintech companies, frozen bank accounts amounting to ₹100 crore and arrested alleged masterminds, officials said.
Further investigation is under way.
