<p>Bengaluru: The city police have registered a case against the former Group Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Gameskraft Technologies for allegedly diverting company funds into futures and options trading, costing the firm over Rs 250 crore.</p>.<p>The suspect is Ramesh Prabhu, 47, a resident of Hebbal, who joined the online gaming company as CFO in 2018.</p>.<p>Gameskraft discontinued operations after the union government recently passed the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025.</p>.<p>The Marathahalli police filed the FIR on September 9 under BNS Sections 316(4) (criminal breach of trust), 318(4) (cheating), 335 (making a false document), 344 (falsification of accounts) and 336(2) (forgery), based on a complaint by Gulshan Yadav, the company’s assistant vice-president.</p>.<p>Yadav, 43, told the police that Prabhu, in an email dated March 5, 2025, “voluntarily admitted” to using company money for equity and derivatives trading over the past three to four years.</p>.<p>“He further stated that the total loss from such Equity F&O Trading, per his estimate, exceeded Rs 250 crore. A reading of the email also makes it clear that these activities were carried out without any disclosure or approval. He stated that he would take full responsibility for his conduct, including for breaching the trust reposed in him in his capacity as Group Chief Financial Officer. He claimed that none of the current or former employees of the Complainant Company were aware of his conduct,” Yadav was quoted as saying in the FIR.</p>.Uphold democratic values, prevent voter fraud, Siddaramaiah tells citizens.<p>The company later conducted a fact-finding review. Records revealed that Prabhu had executed unauthorised financial transactions worth Rs 231.39 crore between FY 2019-20 and FY 2024-25.</p>.<p>“It appears that of Rs 231.39 crore, Rs 211.53 crore was wrongly recorded as ‘investments’ in the Complainant Company’s books of accounts. These ‘investments’ have a carrying value of Rs 250.57 crore as of March 31, 2024. Finally, it was discovered that an additional amount of Rs 19.86 crore was expensed as ‘investments’ in FY 2024-25,” the FIR noted.</p>.<p>The company was then forced to write off Rs 270.43 crore in its financial statement for FY 2024-25. The FIR also states that Prabhu operated an unauthorised account with RBL Bank, through which he diverted funds for personal use.</p>.<p>“To suppress evidence of his unauthorised conduct and thereby prevent timely detection of these unauthorised trades, the suspect created fake mutual fund statements to support his claim that he had made investments using the Complainant Company’s funds,” the FIR said.</p>.<p><strong>Cops to issue look-out notice</strong></p>.<p>A senior Bengaluru police officer told DH: “We have learnt that the suspect is currently abroad. He left the country maybe two or three months ago. We have initiated the procedures to issue a look-out circular against him.”</p>
<p>Bengaluru: The city police have registered a case against the former Group Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Gameskraft Technologies for allegedly diverting company funds into futures and options trading, costing the firm over Rs 250 crore.</p>.<p>The suspect is Ramesh Prabhu, 47, a resident of Hebbal, who joined the online gaming company as CFO in 2018.</p>.<p>Gameskraft discontinued operations after the union government recently passed the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025.</p>.<p>The Marathahalli police filed the FIR on September 9 under BNS Sections 316(4) (criminal breach of trust), 318(4) (cheating), 335 (making a false document), 344 (falsification of accounts) and 336(2) (forgery), based on a complaint by Gulshan Yadav, the company’s assistant vice-president.</p>.<p>Yadav, 43, told the police that Prabhu, in an email dated March 5, 2025, “voluntarily admitted” to using company money for equity and derivatives trading over the past three to four years.</p>.<p>“He further stated that the total loss from such Equity F&O Trading, per his estimate, exceeded Rs 250 crore. A reading of the email also makes it clear that these activities were carried out without any disclosure or approval. He stated that he would take full responsibility for his conduct, including for breaching the trust reposed in him in his capacity as Group Chief Financial Officer. He claimed that none of the current or former employees of the Complainant Company were aware of his conduct,” Yadav was quoted as saying in the FIR.</p>.Uphold democratic values, prevent voter fraud, Siddaramaiah tells citizens.<p>The company later conducted a fact-finding review. Records revealed that Prabhu had executed unauthorised financial transactions worth Rs 231.39 crore between FY 2019-20 and FY 2024-25.</p>.<p>“It appears that of Rs 231.39 crore, Rs 211.53 crore was wrongly recorded as ‘investments’ in the Complainant Company’s books of accounts. These ‘investments’ have a carrying value of Rs 250.57 crore as of March 31, 2024. Finally, it was discovered that an additional amount of Rs 19.86 crore was expensed as ‘investments’ in FY 2024-25,” the FIR noted.</p>.<p>The company was then forced to write off Rs 270.43 crore in its financial statement for FY 2024-25. The FIR also states that Prabhu operated an unauthorised account with RBL Bank, through which he diverted funds for personal use.</p>.<p>“To suppress evidence of his unauthorised conduct and thereby prevent timely detection of these unauthorised trades, the suspect created fake mutual fund statements to support his claim that he had made investments using the Complainant Company’s funds,” the FIR said.</p>.<p><strong>Cops to issue look-out notice</strong></p>.<p>A senior Bengaluru police officer told DH: “We have learnt that the suspect is currently abroad. He left the country maybe two or three months ago. We have initiated the procedures to issue a look-out circular against him.”</p>