ED files fresh chargesheet against Chinese gaming app 'Fiewin' that operated during Covid

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate has filed a fresh chargesheet against an online gaming app that was being operated by Chinese nationals in India during the Covid pandemic years, leading to "fraudulent" generation of Rs 400 crore from the players.

The first prosecution complaint (chargesheet) against the application named 'Fiewin' was filed by the federal probe agency in October 2024, before a Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court located in Kolkata.

The agency had arrested three persons and attached assets worth Rs 26 crore in the past.

The supplementary chargesheet was filed on December 8 before the same court and two persons -- Utkarsh Arya and Sujit Kumar Jha --, and 12 companies "beneficially owned" by Jha have been named as accused, the ED said in a statement.

These companies, the federal probe agency alleged, were used as a corporate structure to conceal the proceeds of crime generated by Fiewin gaming app operators, and this was projected as "business income".

According to the ED, 'Fiewin' came into existence during the Covid period in 2020 and operated till June 2023.

"This gaming app was projected as an app to make fast and easy money and was marketed through YouTube, Facebook and other digital mechanisms. The app itself involved simplistic games like minesweeper, colour prediction, based totally on luck without any role of skills of the player," the probe agency said.

Investigation revealed, the agency said, that Chinese nationals were operating the app with the help and support of Indian nationals. The accused and their associated companies used to transact the proceeds of crime with the Chinese nationals, receiving and sending money through cryptocurrency.

The funds obtained from gullible online gamers were deposited into the bank accounts of various people (called recharge persons) who had allowed the use of their accounts by the app owners in lieu of a certain commission, according to the ED investigation.

About Rs 400 crore was generated from the Fiewin app "fraud" and credited into Binance wallets (a global crypto exchange) in the names of Chinese nationals. The ED found that the Chinese nationals used to communicate and instruct the accused through digital platforms, especially Telegram groups.

The money laundering case stems from an FIR filed at the Cossipore police station in Kolkata.