On March 5, Ramesh Prabhu, the erstwhile Group Chief Financial Officer of Gameskraft Technologies, stunned the Bengaluru-based real-money gaming company by sending a 'voluntary' confession email. In it, Prabhu admitted to diverting company funds over a period of three to four years to fuel personal investments in futures and options (F&O) trading - a reckless gamble that reportedly resulted in losses exceeding Rs 250 crore.
A costly gamble
Prabhu took full ownership of the misconduct, conceding that his actions represented a serious breach of trust placed in him as the company’s financial steward. He also insisted that no other employees were complicit or aware of the scheme, underscoring the lone wolf nature of the alleged fraud.
How the revelation came about
This was revealed in a First Information Report (FIR) registered against Prabhu, a resident of Bengaluru's Hebbal region, at Marathahalli police station in the city on September 9, following a complaint filed by Gameskraft. Moneycontrol has reviewed a copy of the FIR.
Gameskraft's allegations
In the FIR, Gameskraft alleged that Prabhu "dishonestly" siphoned off funds amounting to Rs 270.43 crore over nearly five years and used these funds for his own trading activities without the company's authority, consent, or approval.
The FIR lists multiple offences under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), corresponding to provisions of the Indian Penal Code. These include theft (Section 303 BNS / 378 IPC), criminal breach of trust (Section 316 BNS / 405 IPC), fraudulent concealment of property (Section 323 BNS / 424 IPC), forgery (Sections 335 and 336 BNS / 463 and 464 IPC), and falsification of accounts (Section 344 BNS / 477A IPC).
Also, read: After Dream11, Gameskraft says it won't pursue a legal challenge to government's real-money gaming ban
Gameskraft is yet to respond to Moneycontrol's detailed queries on this development. The story will be updated when the company responds.
Fact-finding review reveals scale of losses
According to the complaint, the company carried out a detailed "fact-finding" review following Prabhu's disclosure, which revealed that he had executed unauthorised financial transactions totalling Rs 231.39 crore between FY20 and FY25.
Of this, Rs 211.53 crore was wrongly shown as ‘investments’ in the company’s books, which had a carrying value of Rs 250.57 crores as of March 31, 2024. An additional Rs 19.86 crore was recorded as ‘investments’ in FY25, as per the FIR. Due to this, Gameskraft had to write off Rs 270.43 crore in its financial statements for FY25, it stated.
Investigations conducted by the firm also revealed that Prabhu carried out these trades through a bank account at RBL Bank, which was under his sole control. He allegedly diverted funds through this account to his personal bank account, while it was shown as 'investments' in the company's books.
Prabhu also altered the firm's bank statements, and created fake mutual fund statements as proof of investments in an effort to conceal these transactions, the FIR noted.
Gameskraft alleged that Prabhu’s deliberate acts of forgery, falsification of accounts, and concealment of transactions showed a clear intent to misappropriate funds. He has not reported to work since March 1, 2025, and has remained untraceable since sending the email. Attempts by the company to contact him or identify his whereabouts have failed, the complaint stated. PTI had earlier reported about Gameskraft's police complaint and a few details from the company’s forensic audit. However, the former group CFO’s name and the subsequent FIR outlining the full extent of the transactions had not been disclosed until now.
A Chartered Accountant by profession, 47-year old Prabhu joined Gameskraft as CFO in 2018. Prior to this, he was the co-founder and CEO of Three Wheels United, which helped facilitate affordable financing loans for autorickshaw drivers.
India's ban on real-money games
These developments come at a time when the Indian government has introduced a new online gaming law that imposes a blanket ban on real-money games.
Gameskraft, founded by Prithvi Singh in 2017, discontinued its online rummy apps, including Rummyculture, last month after the legislation was passed by Parliament. The firm also paused operations of its online poker platform Pocket52 in May 2025.
Read: Online Gaming Bill: Dream11 parent firm, Gameskraft, Zupee, MPL begin suspending its RMG offerings
Gameskraft had further stated that it won't pursue a legal challenge to this legislation and will instead shift its focus towards the future.
"Our cross-functional teams are actively exploring new opportunities and future-ready solutions that align with the evolving legal landscape to unlock the full potential of India’s digital gaming economy,” a spokesperson said in a statement on August 26.
Earlier this month, Gameskraft reported a 25 percent drop in its net profit to Rs 706 crore in FY25, from Rs 947 crore in FY24. This includes exceptional items worth Rs 270.5 crore.
The bootstrapped company, however, had attributed the decline in profit primarily to the full-year impact of the 28 percent Goods and Services Tax regime, which led to tax outflows increasing from Rs 1,512 crore in FY24 to Rs 2,526 crore in FY25. It also cited a one-time accounting adjustment of past unauthorised transactions amounting to about Rs 231 crore.
Gameskraft's revenues grew 13.9 percent to Rs 4,009 crore for FY25, from Rs 3,521 crore in FY24.
In July, the Supreme Court reserved its judgment in a clutch of cases dealing with both GST levied on gaming companies as well as state-level legislation which sought to ban some real-money online games.
The apex court also has to adjudicate the validity of GST notices worth Rs 2.5 lakh crore issued to online RMG firms including Gameskraft, as well as challenges to laws introduced by Tamil Nadu and Karnataka that banned online games played for stakes.
Read: Supreme Court to hear challenges to online gaming act, transfers cases from high courts
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