By Raju Vernekar
Mumbai, September 23
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) filed a charge sheet against M/s Future Gaming & Hotel Services Private Limited (FGHSPL) and 15 other companies before a special PMLA court in Kolkata in a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), on Thursday.
The ED initiated a PMLA 2002 investigation based on FIRs registered by Kolkata Police against FGHSPL and other companies under various sections of IPC and Lotteries Regulation Act 1998. The court has taken cognisance of the charge sheet filed by ED, an official statement read.
The accused persons were found engaged in selling of lotteries organised by the states of Sikkim and Nagaland across the country, including West Bengal. The ED investigation revealed that FGHSPL entered into agreements with various state governments to sell the state organised lotteries. However, it allegedly cheated the lottery issuing state governments by not depositing the entire sale proceeds generated from the sale of lotteries.
The modus operandi also included illegally retaining unsold lotteries, claiming prizes on unsold lotteries, manipulating data to show unsold prize-winning tickets as sold and claiming prizes in the pre-GST period up to 2017. During investigation, proceeds of crime to the tune of Rs 411 crore were attached/freezed in the bank accounts of the accused persons.
In April this year the ED had provisionally attached movable assets of M/s. Future Gaming & Hotel Services Pvt. Ltd. & its various sub-distributors/area-distributors. The attached assets were in the form of balance in Bank Accounts and Mutual Fund Holdings.
ED initiated money laundering investigation against M/s Future Gaming and its Sub Distributors and Area Distributors for West Bengal on the basis of FIRs registered by Kolkata Police under various sections of IPC and under section 7(3) and 9 of Lotteries Regulation Act, 1998.
Further, Sale proceeds of lottery tickets were illegally diverted towards gifts and incentives by modifying the prize structure of Lottery Schemes without any approval from the organizing State Governments. In this manner, M/s Future Gaming and its sub distributor companies illegally claimed around Rs 400 Crore between 2014 and 2017.
M/s. Future Gaming & Hotel Services Pvt. Ltd. is the sole distributor of Paper Lottery organized by the states of Sikkim and Nagaland that runs the popular “Dear Lottery”.
