6 arrested for laundering millions of taka

Staff Reporter :
The elite force Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) has arrested six men for laundering millions of taka beyond Bangladesh using online gambling apps such as ‘Teen Patti Gold’.
The accused persons are identified as Jamilur Rashid, 31, son of one Kamal Uddin Ahmed, Simon Hossain, 29, son of one Anowar Hossain, Md Ridwan Ahmed, 29, son of one Jinnat Ali, Md Rakibul Alam, 29, son of one late Khirul Alam, Md Muntakim Ahmed, 37, son of one Moinuddin Ahmed, and Kayes Uddin Ahmed, 32, son of one Kamal Uddin Ahmed.
Khandaker Al Moin, RAB’s Legal and Media wing director, confirmed this in a press briefing at RAB media centre on Monday.
The accused persons were arrested from city’s Uttara and Mohakhali areas last night during separate drives. During the initial interrogation, the accused admitted to have laundered crores of money abroad through online gambling, he said.
According to the RAB officials, Jamilur Rashid, CEO of Ulka Games Limited, was identified as the ‘prime suspect’ of the money laundering ring.
The RAB Cyber Monitoring Team has stepped up its vigilance and efforts to bring those involved in online casinos to justice. The RAB previously arrested Selim Prodhan, the ringleader of many online casinos.
Many companies were taking in foreign investment under the guise of gaming development and then using online gambling apps to launder millions of taka abroad, Khandaker Moin said.
Ulka Games Limited founder and CEO Jamilur Rashid got involved with a company called ‘Moonfrog Lab’ from a neighbouring country in 2017.
He was then hired as Moonfrog Lab’s Bangladeshi representative in 2018.
Moonfrog Lab then attempted to popularise the ‘Teen Patti Gold’ app in Bangladesh.
The ‘Teen Patti Gold’ app had nearly 900,000 regular players and sold close to Tk 3 millions in chips every day.
Mentionable that Ulka Games got permission to develop gaming apps, but did not have permits to run online gambling or casinos. Instead, they provided false information to authorities.