By Sanjana Bjyoti Banthia

Copyright thehindubusinessline

Real-money gaming company Gameskraft crisis deepens as the company’s former CFO Ramesh Prabhu has been charged with diverting company funds over a period of three to four years for personal investments in futures and options (F&O) trading. The company has alleged that this has resulted in losses exceeding ₹250 crore.

In an FIR filed by the company with Bengaluru’s Marathahalli Police Station on September 9, Gameskraft alleged that Prabhu admitted to the wrongdoings in an email addressed to management on March 5 and noted that no other current or former employee of the organisation was a part of it.

The FIR stated that the company’s legal team discovered that Prabhu had executed unauthorised financial transactions totalling ₹231.39 crore from FY 2019-20 up to FY 2024-25.

“Out of this amount, ₹211.53 crore were wrongly recorded as “investments in the Complainant Company’s books of accounts. These ‘investments’ have a carrying value of ₹250.57 crore as of 31 March 2024,” the FIR, reviewed by businessline, stated.

It was also discovered that an additional amount of ₹19.86 crore was expensed as “investments” in FY24-25. The Company was required to write off ₹270.43 crore in its financial statement for the said fiscal.

Businessline has a copy of the FIR. A detailed questionnaire has been shared with the company, and the copy will be updated following the company’s response.

The FIR also noted that Prabhu did not report to work since March 1, and there was no further communication from him after the email.

“Any attempts on the part of the Complainant Company to contact the Accused or discern his whereabouts have been unsuccessful,” the FIR read.

Subsequently, in August, Gameskraft terminated Ramesh Prabhu.

How was it done?

The FIR details how Prabhu allegedly misused an account with RBL Bank that he controlled exclusively. Funds were transferred into his personal account and falsely reflected as “investments” in the company’s books.

“He closely controlled this account, which only he had access to, and diverted/misappropriated funds for his personal use. These funds were transferred without any authorization from the Complainant. GamesKraft discovered he had transferred the funds to his personal bank account while the same were falsely reflected as ‘investments in the company’s books of accounts,” the FIR noted.

To conceal the transactions, Prabhu is accused of altering bank statements, fabricating records, and deleting or inserting line items in financial documents.

“To suppress evidence of his unauthorised conduct and prevent timely detection of these unauthorised trades, he created fake mutual fund statements in support of his claim that he made investments using the Company’s funds,” the FIR detailed.

The offences cited include theft (Section 303, BNS), criminal breach of trust (Section 316), concealment of property (Section 323), forgery and making false documents (Sections 335 and 336), and falsification of accounts (Section 344). The FIR further states that Prabhu’s actions resulted in the company filing inaccurate financial statements for multiple years.

Gameskraft has requested legal action against Ramesh Prabhu for unlawfully diverting company funds into his personal bank accounts. The case is currently under investigation.

Company financials

Founded in June 2017, Gameskraft was the brain-child of founder Prithvi Singh and co-founders Sumit Gupta and Rajbir Singh Bamel. It has raised a total of ₹1.59 crore in seed funding, primarily from friends and family. The company currently employs around 720 people.

For FY25, Gameskraft reported revenue of ₹4,009 crore and a PAT of ₹706 crore, compared with revenue of ₹3,475 crore and a PAT of ₹947 crore in FY24.

In 2020, the company invested $1.75 million in Pocket52’s Series A round, becoming its lead investor. However, it paused the operations of the poker platform on May 30 after the government imposed a 28 per cent GST on real-money gaming. Beyond Pocket52, Gameskraft has also invested in Eloelo (a social gaming and live streaming platform), Mailmodo (an email automation start-up), and FluxGen Sustainable Technologies (a water management start-up).

The company is also involved in an ongoing case with the Directorate General of GST, which has alleged tax evasion of ₹21,000 crore. While the Karnataka High Court quashed the GST notice, the Supreme Court has stayed the HC order.

Published on September 16, 2025