Gujarat: Chinese national dupes 1200 people out of Rs 1400 crore through fake football betting app

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News of a shocking betting scam has emerged from Gujarat where a Chinese national visited India to collaborate with scammers to create a football betting app to dupe people of crores.

Working together, the scammers have reportedly duped an estimated 1200 people out of Rs 1400 crore in just nine days. The incident even shocked the police who conducted an investigation which led them to the Chinese man named Woo Uyanbe.

As per the statement from a CID (crime) officer, they came to know of people being duped in Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh through the “Dani Data” app in June 2022. Further investigation revealed that Uyanbe visited India between 2020 and 2022.

During the visits, Uyanbe spent time in Patan and Banaskantha, likely creating connections and luring people with promises of hefty returns on their investments. The app was finally launched in May 2022 and the Chinese national convinced several individuals to make bets. He raked in around Rs 200 crore every day from people of all age groups through the illegal betting app.

“The app was operational for nine days before suddenly becoming non-functional. It was then that people realised their invested money had been siphoned off,” an officer aware of the situation told The Times of India.

So far, the cyber cell unit of CID (crime) has arrested nine individuals who are allegedly linked to Uyanbe and helped him channel the proceeds of crime through hawala network by setting up shell companies.

The Gujarat police began their operation in August 2022 based on FIRs filed against Uyanbe in Patan for cheating and violations under the IT Act. However, the culprit had swiftly made his escape to China. Reports suggest that Uyanbe is still operating the betting network in regions like Hong Kong and Singapore from Shenzhen, China.

The CID (crime), as of now, has filed a charge-sheet against all individuals connected to the case but does not have enough evidence to initiate the extradition process of Uyanbe.

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