Binance Says It Helped India's Enforcement Directorate Trace $47.6M Related to a Gaming Scam

• Binance says it has helped India's Enforcement Directorate to trace funds and arrest four people in a gaming scam.
• Victims were lured into online betting and gaming, promising easy earnings before trapping their funds.

Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volumes, has helped India's Enforcement Directorate (ED), the authority investigating financial crimes, arrest four individuals in a gaming scam worth $47.6 million.

Binance "provided critical intelligence that was instrumental in tracing the funds and uncovering the fraud network," an announcement said. "ED's investigation uncovered links to digital wallets together with deep cooperation from Binance's Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU)."

The fraud is related to the Fiewin gaming app in which victims were lured into online betting and gaming, promising easy earnings before trapping their funds.

The ED and Binance did not immediately respond to a CoinDesk question about whether the $47.6 million was recovered.

"Public-private collaborations are crucial in tackling complex financial crimes," an unnamed representative from the ED cited by Binance said. "In this case, they (Binance) provided us with analytical support that contributed to the investigation."

Earlier this year, Binance was one of two foreign exchanges registered with India's Financial Investigation Unit, a soft legitimization of sorts in a nation where crypto remains "unregulated."

In 2022, the ED and Binance worked together to freeze millions as part of a money-laundering investigation relating to a gaming app called E-Nuggets.

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